Firefly Cartography Resources

What is it?

Firefly is a style of cartography were thematic layers have a glowing hue effect, sitting atop a dark desaturated imagery basemap.

Here is an overview of the effect, introducing why and when it works, and walking through the assembly of a Firefly map.

Basemap

There is an official for-realz Firefly basemap tile service. Here it is in an ArcGIS Online web map, all ready to roll.

You can use this basemap in your web maps, or pull it into your ArcGIS Pro project.

ArcGIS Online Firefly Symbology

Firefly point symbols are available directly in ArcGIS Online. Here's a quick resource showing how to get to them.

ArcGIS Pro Symbology

If you are working in the desktop environment, you can download a "style" file jam packed with Firefly points, lines, and polygons. Learn more about that here.

Additional Resources

Visit the Living Atlas to find more Firefly cartography helpers and examples. The Living Atlas is a carefully curated massive collection of maps, apps, and data, and it is growing all the time. Check back for new resources and Firefly-styled layers and maps.

Happy Firefly Mapping! John Nelson