For the National Geographic Bee, the National Geographic Society wanted me to make ten thematic maps on set subjects, but they had also to be plausible (if you didn’t know the data) thematic maps of something else. Tricky. I had to use a color scheme that didn’t obviously tie to the subject, but also an approach to the data that was clear and simple. I also wanted to use a variety of thematic map types. There was a fair amount of data sourcing and evaluating involved; some of the initial ideas simply didn’t lend themselves to clear graphics, or the available data was not of good enough quality. You can see these maps stumping some of the contestants on this video: