Karyn McDonald is a map designer and lives on Waiheke Island, New Zealand

She studied Spatial Information Studies at Otago University and has worked for over 10 years as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Analyst in New Zealand as well as in London and Melbourne.

After returning from overseas and starting a family, Karyn wanted to find a more flexible work and lifestyle balance and so started creating map art using GIS technologies to create visually appealing and modern maps.

Realising that other people shared her appreciation of the functional aesthetic of maps as artworks in themselves, Karyn has been inspired to pursue a contemporary approach to the art of map design.