Behind Every Good Map is a Great Cartographer
AT XNR, WE SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF MAPS. Everyone on our staff has a university degree in cartography, geography, or a closely related field. We believe a map tells a story. Our job is to draw out the story through our strengths in accuracy, creativity, and being detail-oriented by nature.
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Jon Daugherity
Jon is a master at adding illustrative detail to maps, and coming up with designs that evoke a certain time period or sentiment in a map. His calm demeanor and sense of humor are valued by colleagues and customers alike. In addition to managing and coordinating the day-to-day aspects of multiple projects, Jon remains actively involved with hands-on production, while also providing leadership as a skilled mentor and coach.
Jon loves illustrative maps that incorporate different design elements. He enjoys the challenge of creating a timeline or a unique compass rose that conveys, through illustration, a unique period in history.
Away from the office, Jon enjoys gardening and fishing with his two sons.
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Rob McCaleb
Rob is an excellent problem solver and highly skilled at map production. One of Rob’s areas of specialty at XNR is generating relief imagery for various projects, along with some tilted perspective maps. He’s also our in-house expert for developing indexing processes—either for atlases or single maps. Most often he can be found working on large-format projects such as wall maps and folded sheet maps.
Rob enjoys general reference maps with tons of detail. He likes to explore, and figures that more detail means that more exploration can be done.
Outside work, Rob plays on a kickball team and is the lead guitarist in a band. He also likes to ski, and ranks the back bowls at Vail as his favorite place to be.
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Laura McCormick
Laura launched XNR in 1995 and has slowly built the company into the full-service cartography shop it is today. Laura enjoys being involved in all aspects of the business, from helping out on research and creative details to overall planning and decision-making. She is an experienced editor and has a passion for getting things right.
For Laura, some maps generate the same kind of feeling one might get from looking at a beautiful piece of art, which she finds very inspiring. She also appreciates maps that are loose and whimsical, because they communicate that maps are simply
abstractions of a continually changing world.Laura’s interests outside cartography include trail running, sailing, reading, and travel.
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Scott Zillmer
Scott came to XNR in 2006 with a background in every aspect of cartography. He has over a dozen years experience as a map and graphics editor, ranging from locator maps to large atlas plates. His attention to detail and his love of geography trivia, boundaries and names make him a natural for the job.
Scott loves exquisitely detailed maps, as well as those that illustrate how physical landscapes can constrain the human environment. The combination of well-known details with total guesswork on some antique maps provides Scott with an added appreciation for cartography as a blend of art and science.
Most of Scott’s free time is spent with playing with his young daughters. He especially enjoys traveling, hiking, bird watching, geocaching and camping. He also keeps track of all the counties he’s ever visited.
