GrafoMap is a startup mapping company based in Riga, Latvia that allows you to create custom map posters with your own personal touch. Rihards Piks, Co-Founder of GrafoMaps says he was inspired to create this company from different map filters that are designed for use on website contact sections such as WordPress. Piks isn’t the kind of person who enjoys abstract art because they don’t make much sense to him. But map art is something that really interests him. He believes that all maps illustrate a very obvious meaning- the area around you. Piks and his business partner soon came up with the idea of printing artistic maps to sell. This soon became a huge hit with the public because people love the idea of being able to choose any place that holds special meaning to them, and then have it transformed into a visually pleasing map poster to keep.
According to Piks, “GrafoMap is merging technology with art to create beautiful, high-quality art prints, made to order. It uses Open Street Maps (OSM) to render geolocation data and Mapbox to apply beautiful design filters on top of it. We have finetuned everything so that the print would look exactly like a preview on screen. Now users can create an artistic map print of any city or town in the world to hang on their walls and enjoy for years.” This idea is a simple yet brilliant idea and has proved its success in sales. 
Creating your own custom Map poster only takes a few simple steps. Log into their website, choose the location you want to map, the specific style and color, its layout, enter shipping and payment details…and in only 5-10 days, you will have a high quality printed map poster at your doorstep!
The Grafomap team is constantly looking for new ideas on what kind of data they should illustrate with their product. Piks and his business partner want to invite any map data experts out there with cool ideas, to reach out and discuss possible collaboration with the GrafoMap team!
For possible business collaboration and inquiries with GrafoMap, contact: info@grafomap.com.
Learn more about GrafoMaps on Geoawesomeness and CityLab.
Written by Hana Goldstein (7/25/16)