Maps tell stories — stories of people, places, journeys, and data. The 30-Day Map Challenge, created by Topi Tjukanov, is an annual social media celebration of those stories, encouraging developers, designers, and map enthusiasts to create and share maps each day in November, inspired by a daily theme prompt like ‘hexagons’ or ‘vintage style.’

This year, many developers and mapmakers created visual masterpieces using Mapbox. From visualizing data points to crafting immersive 3D experiences, the challenge showcases how versatile and powerful mapping technologies can be. This blog shares some of this year’s contributions from mapmakers within the Mapbox community.

Day 1: Points 

Mapbox Standard recently doubled its tree dataset to over 50 million trees! To demonstrate this, we created a visual comparison of tree points in Helsinki before and after the update — a small but impactful representation of how points bring clarity to data.

Day 2: Lines 

Imagine maps of glowing, elevated flight paths. The new Mapbox line-z-offset rendering feature brings this vision to life through a drone flight path map by designer Owen Powell. This capability adds depth and brightness to intricate line data, presenting a whole new dimension of storytelling.

Day 3: Polygons

Polygons don’t just outline data — they define it. In this case, we showcase how a polygon can be used to ‘clip’ away parts of 3D buildings. It’s perfect for making room for custom content or providing visual context to a map's design. 

Day 4: Hexagons

Mapbox map designer Stephen Kennedy’s “Crystal Cities” map wowed us with its creative use of the Kontur Population hex grid dataset. This glowing visualization transforms urban population density data into captivating, stylized forms that feel as alive as the cities they represent.

Day 5: A Journey 

Mapboxer Chris Whong showcased a route map of the famous Great Saunter, an annual hike around Manhattan. With Mapbox GL JS v3 and the upgraded Standard map style, the map now highlights Manhattan landmarks in vibrant detail — perfect for adventurers and urban explorers.

Day 6: Rasters

Rasters add storytelling magic. The New York Times' hurricane tracker visualizes how Hurricane Milton moved through Florida, using raster animations in a powerful and clear way. 

Day 7: Vintage Style

Mapboxer Lena Pronina unveiled a retro-inspired map style featuring iconic TV and radio towers in 3D. The style’s vintage black-and-white palette brings nostalgia to modern mapping technologies.

Day 8: Data from HDX  

See the map here.

The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) is a renowned resource of open data. Mapbox customer International Crisis Group often uses HDX data in their Mapbox-based interactive visual explainers, like this piece about the geographic distribution of settlements in the West Bank created by Paul Franz and Claire Boccon-Gibod.

Day 9: AI Maps

See the map here.

How cartographically competent are current AI tools? Mapboxer Marena Smith tried using ChatGPT alongside Mapbox Docs’ “Ask AI” tool to create a web map in under 5 minutes. Just a few prompts later — and voilà — an interactive points-on-a-map web app was born.

Day 10: Pen & Paper

Studio Carto’s sketch-style map uses lines that feel hand-drawn, turning a site development plan into an engaging visual that mimics traditional architectural sketches.

Day 11: Arctic Maps

The SIKU app, created by the Arctic Eider Society, provides maps tailored to the needs of living in the Arctic using the Mapbox Mobile SDK and custom data processed and hosted with the Mapbox Tiling Service. The app’s custom basemap supports local communities with stunning visuals and practical utility.

Day 12: Time and Space

Chris Whong’s “NYC Subwaysheds” map explores where you can travel across New York City, blending time and space to show the far-reaching power of urban transit systems.

Day 13: New Tools

Discover tools like geojson.io and others from our revamped Mapbox Developer Tool collection. These resources equip developers to build and refine their maps with ease. 

Day 14: Another World

Lena Pronina’s Dune-inspired map style reimagines geography in a sci-fi context. Crafted using Mapbox Studio’s advanced styling options, the map style is an immersive experience fit for the Dune universe. 

Day 15: Personal Data

Mapbox designer Mel Imfeld visualized a year of runs and hikes, providing a minimalist yet detailed overview of personal movement through Mapbox Studio-generated infographics. Want to try it for yourself? Export visuals like these using our static image exports for print or web.

Day 16: Choropleth Maps

See the map here.

Aquazonia’s choropleth maps, built with Mapbox, reveal threats to water dynamics in the Amazon basin, helping tell vital stories about environmental protection with visually compelling accuracy. 

Day 17: Collaborative Maps 

Mapboxer Lena Pronina’s sliding puzzle game lets you reconstruct views of the Eiffel Tower using Standard style maps. It’s a playful take on collaborative and interactive mapping, forked from this project. 

Day 18: 3D designs

Learn more about Amplify here.

Amplify’s polished event map for Boomtown Fair integrates 3D objects into the Standard style, creating an immersive event experience through the Mapbox Datasets Editor and Mapbox Studio. 

Day 19: Typography

Stephen Kennedy’s “Haring Map” pays tribute to pop artist Keith Haring by using dynamic typography and vibrant styles to transform map elements into works of art. Explore the Haring Map Style.

Day 20: OpenStreetMap

Mapboxer Kuan Butts presented a lightning talk titled "Lines vs Lanes: Modeling Complex Lane Fanning" at the OpenStreetMap 2024 State of the Map US conference. Kuan delved into the nuances of mapping and modeling traffic in complex lane configurations at major toll plazas on highways. See his full talk here.

Day 21: Mapping conflict  

James Piacentini mapped urban renewal and public housing projects layered over historic redlining maps, providing poignant insights into the legacy of discriminatory policies in NYC. Explore the map style here.

Day 22: 2 Colors

See the map here.

James Piacentini’s “Constellations map” features city lights glowing against a deep, starry blue background. This elegant design turns terrestrial data into cosmic art.

Day 23: Memorabilia Patterns

Taya Lavrinenko’s map design reflects the intricate beauty of Portuguese Azulejo ceramic tiles, merging memory and place into an undeniable visual treat.

Day 24: Circular Shapes

Andrew Sepic’s intuitive “Cafe au Latitude” store locator map demo uses circular clusters and animations to create an impactful and user-friendly experience. 

Day 25: Heat 

Jake Borowski’s heat map visualizes temperature data in real-time, perfectly showcasing Mapbox capabilities for data-driven storytelling and science communication. 

Day 26: Map projections

See the map here.

Mapboxer Nikita Slavin’s use of polar projections highlights the retreat of Arctic sea ice, illustrating the stark realities of climate change in the far north.

Day 27: Micromapping

Stephen Kennedy and Daniel Eke mapped detailed transit station interiors in Tokyo, giving a glimpse into the intricate underground world of Japanese metros. 

Day 28: The blue planet 

Mapboxer Nikita Slavin gave us a retro-inspired “Finn Topo” map style, emphasizing water in icy blues, that is a modern take on old-school cartographic styling.

Day 29: Data and style

A slick store locator demo from Kyle Walker combines Overture data with Mapbox clustering capabilities, showcasing the brilliant balance between data and design. 

Day 30: The final map 

The grand finale! A beautiful winter map to promote the Mapbox Winter Release.

What’s next

From technical advancements to artistic expressions, the annual 30 Day Map Challenge is a tribute to the endless possibilities of modern mapping. Whether you’re a developer, designer, GIS specialist, or someone who loves maps, we invite you to explore, create, and share your own stories. Until the 2025 Challenge, we invite you to share your map creations anytime using #BuiltWithMapbox on social media.

Need tools to get started? Discover the power of maps with Mapbox and get started today.

‍

‍

‍

‍