Sala Silvergruva
Recently, I was hired to draw two maps for Sala Silvergruva, which was a dream project coming true. The silver mine was in production from the 15th century until 1908 and is a historically significant landmark in Sweden.
Sala Silvergruvas beautiful location and surroundings attract thousands of visitors from all over the world yearly. My job was to draw two maps to be put up as navigational signs for visitors coming to the mine:
One map of the central area of the mine
One map of the surrounding area of the mine
Drottning Christinas Shaft
Bergrummet Korset, 155 m underground
Map of the central area
The central area of Sala Silvergruva consists of administrative buildings and four shafts (the buildings used for administrative purposes are marked in red on the map). Since I only draw in 2D, I decided to take pictures and draw the houses by hand in 2D, placing them on the map and connecting them to the legend (top right).
On-site photo of the central area map
Process
After consulting with Sala Silvergruva, I started mapping the area using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Lantmäteriet. Afterward, I did on-site coverage, taking photos and videos of buildings, shafts, and other visually essential landmarks. Using real maps as a template, I started by hand drawing in Procreate. After multiple feedback loops, I assembled the final design in Figma and InDesign.
Map of the surrounding area
Visiting the surrounding area of Sala Silvergruva offers multiple hiking, MTB, bicycle trails as well as two nature reserves. Old mining shafts can be found around and next to these trails.
Combined map
The combined map with legends will give you a conclusive overview of the mine. More images of this map will be posted shortly!
Thank you Sala Silvergruva!
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