Alumna creates Canadian Tire Atlas Colouring Book

Taylor Cayen, Geographic Analysis '13, has been with Canadian Tire since her internship as a Database Analyst in Summer 2012. She then moved through several positions in the corporation's market research unit to become Senior Market Analyst within five years after graduation and Manager, Market Analysis, less than ten years after earning her undergraduate degree.

In addition to her busy yet rewarding day job, Taylor continues to enjoy making maps. She recently created the "Canadian Tire Atlas Colouring Book", which was included in the corporation's Christmas 2022 gift box for employees. The printed booklet features 14 maps of Canada's provinces and territories with the locations of Canadian Tire stores. Taylor originally designed the atlas in June to honour Canadian Tire's 100th birthday. Digital copies were sold to raise money for Jumpstart, a charity program to overcome financial and accessibility barriers to children's sport and recreation. At that time, she also created an animated map of Canada that shows over 500 Canadian Tire locations as they opened across the country through the corporation's history.

Taylor used Esri's ArcGIS Pro software to design the maps, which feature simplified white polygons with black outlines to achieve a "colouring book" style, while also including subtle texture elements to help add detail and create visual contrast. Taylor was inspired by old Canadian Tire road maps from the 1930s and 1940s to recreate a vintage-style north arrow in Illustrator, adding small modern updates. She had a fun time putting the Canadian Tire Atlas together and is looking forward to making more maps. In the meantime, Taylor also served as a judge for the 2022 Skills Ontario GIS competition for high-school geography students and passes on her enthusiasm for professional map-making.