Meet Will Toth | Artistic Cartographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Will Toth and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Will, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I was doing a hike in one of my favorite areas of Tennessee and was looking for a map to keep me on track. At the trailhead, there was a paper map you could take so you could see the trail junctions and not get lost. While it was helpful for keeping me on the trail and not missing a turn, it was absolutely trash at describing the terrain, giving you an idea of how far you’d gone, or letting you know what you were going to see. For example, the first loop of the trail was the same size as the second loop, despite being almost 4x as big. When I looked up the trail online later, I couldn’t believe how inaccurate and useless it was!

I went home and did some digging on maps, I discovered this entire market about making maps, and even better discovered a open source program to help me make them! After spending hours going down that rabbit hole, I started making my own maps and never got lost again.

Once I had the map making part down, I paired it with my love of digital painting and art and started making accurate, yet colorful and fun maps to be used as reference or as talking points in my home. Now I want to make maps for everyone that goes on rad adventures so they can celebrate their accomplishments and inspire others to get outside more.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m still very much on the climb right now, I don’t think I’m anywhere near the top of the game. That being said, I think what sets me apart from other artistic map making companies is that I focus on the outdoor adventure side of things. I see a lot of city maps, or shaded relief maps of countries, and they’re great, but they’re a bit vague. I really like celebrating the potential adventures of the areas I map. For example, I make a point to show the best photo opportunities along a trail. That way people can see the general area, but also point to specific spots along the way that they remember. It creates great conversations with their friends as they have essentially a visual aid to their most recent outdoor outing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If someone visited me near Denver and we had all the time in the world, I’d absolutely take them to Sky Pond in RMNP. I think that trail has some of the most exciting and varied terrain I’ve ever seen and it ends with you having to climb an actual waterfall! It’s very hard to beat.

Then we’re coming back for some 1up arcade games, going to live Family Feud with Rion Evans at Barfly, and eating way too much food on a restaurant hopping Faturday (to refuel from the hike of course). Oh, and we’d probably have to swing by Clear Creek Canyon. I’d have to read the room to decide if we’re fishing, climbing, or rafting at that point.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife gets most of the credit for helping me learn all the ins and outs of marketing and design. She would cringe while watching me do all my work in Photoshop and write the most bland emails to my subscribers. At one point she got so fed up she took over my “welcome campaign” and showed me how to make content worth reading and taught me about better design programs. I love doing the technical map work and putting the poster together, but without her help I’d be floundering on the marketing side. She also has a great eye for design, so she politely (and not so politely) will critique my more flamboyant map ideas.

I also owe some credit to Donald Miller’s book series. I don’t know him personally, but the way he talks about business in those books really made me feel like it was something I could do.

Website: yourcustommaps.com

Instagram: @yourcustommaps

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourcustommaps