One more example of a horrible map

OK, we're going to have some real, honest-to-goodness posts very soon, but to tide you over try this on for size:

Since the last District Curmudgeon post was about maps, I thought it would be a good idea to point out another one that's been bugging me for months now. The above series of maps is used in the Express newspaper to highlight the locations of news stories, often for the "Weekend Review."

Look at that map on the right, though. I realize this is meant to be a generalization, but there's no good reason for the map to be done as poorly as it has been. Here are the biggest problems I see—feel free to add more critique in the comments below:

• The islands of Java and Sumatra have been merged into one large island.
• Only the North Island of New Zealand is shown. The larger South Island has been unceremoniously deleted. (Not to mention that New Zealand is FAR too close to Australia.)
• The western end of New Guinea has disappeared, while the island of New Britain has become an appendage on New Guinea's east.
• The Philippines, Borneo, and the Sumatra/Java monster have all migrated south and are not close to being in the right relation to Guinea and Australia.

You can find lots of strange things going on in the Eurasia and North America maps as well. Wouldn't hurt to have Madagascar on the Africa map too.

C'mon, Express, spend 5 minutes and make a more accurate map for your readers. There's no need to publish something this inaccurate and misleading.

Good Font/Bad Font

Indulge me in something a little silly here. I'm a font nerd, and this cup of soup I came across at Harris Teeter the other day really brought a smile to my face:

(For those interested, Harris Teeter's font is called Jester).

On the other hand, this sign at a Barrack's Row restaurant made me look twice:

This font is Copperplate Gothic Bold, which clearly has quite a following out there in some quarters. Note the two lowercase "o"s in the word "Room"—they've been rotated ninety degrees, apparently because the sign's frame wasn't made large enough for the restaurant's name to fit. Not important, but it did catch my eye...