Atlantic Arena

World War II map focused on the Atlantic Theater, published as a supplement to Fortune Magazine.

Designed to influence the perception of the American public during the war, this map highlights the web of supply routes need to supply friendly forces across the Atlantic. Text along the side provides information on the geopolitical situation of the European theater, and color is used to dramatic effect to show the superiority of the Allies in landmass and the concentrated nature of Axis power in Europe and North Africa.

This is one of several wartime maps published by Fortune Magazine and designed by Richard Edes Harrison using an orthographic projection. As explained in an inset in the lower right, this projection is more suited than the Mercator Projection to show the global nature of war, as it more accurately depicts the spatial relationships between countries. A custom scale along the left side of the map can be cut out and used to measure distances between any two points.