About Mapworld

A love of maps. Decades of experience. A world worth exploring.

A map can be the beginning of a journey, the answer to a practical question or the thing that makes a child look up and ask, “Where is that?” It can bring a room to life, put a business plan into perspective or help someone understand the country beneath their feet.

At Mapworld, we have spent more than 30 years helping people find the right map for those moments.

We are an Australian, family-run specialist map business, bringing together an extensive online range, practical product knowledge and a large-format printing and finishing workshop in Perth. From a folded touring map to a substantial canvas wall map, our starting point is the same: what do you need it to do?

Explore our maps of Australia · Browse world maps · Ask us for advice

Inside Mapworld: specialist maps, globes and geographic products, with a working production workshop behind them.

Our story: from specialist shops to a national online business

Mapworld grew out of the specialist retail network established by Hema Maps founders Henry and Margaret Boegheim. Their maps needed room to be seen, compared and explained. Dedicated map shops gave customers that opportunity.

Mapworld’s story takes in specialist shops in Sydney, Crows Nest, Canberra and Brisbane, together with Perth Map Centre in Western Australia. Each location served a different community, from travellers and families to schools, businesses, mariners and government departments.

In 2005, Patrick and Christopher O’Keeffe purchased the Mapworld retail business. Christopher managed the east-coast stores, while Patrick continued operating Perth Map Centre. Mapworld and Hema became separate businesses, with a continuing connection through Australian travel and adventure mapping.

Perth Map Centre, remembered by many customers from its Hay Street premises, became central to Mapworld’s next chapter. As shopping habits and map publishing changed, the business developed into a national online operation supported by local production.

Today, our base is in Willetton, Western Australia. The experience accumulated across those shops continues in the advice we give and the products we supply.

Read more about Mapworld and Hema’s shared history and the story of Mapworld, Perth Map Centre and print-on-demand mapping. You can also explore our Hema maps and guides.

People who understand maps

Our Managing Director, Christopher O’Keeffe, brings 25 years of experience across specialist map retailing, navigation products, online retail, large-format printing and map production.

His work has ranged from managing the Mapworld shop network to developing the online business and writing guides that help customers make informed choices. That combination of retail and production experience matters: choosing a map and turning it into a useful finished product are closely connected decisions.

Sometimes the question is about geography. Sometimes it is about scale, legibility, paper, a frame or a wall that is larger than expected. We enjoy working through those details with people.

You do not need to arrive with a product number. A place name, a route, a photograph of the space or a description of the job is a useful beginning.

Helping you choose well

Two maps of the same place can serve very different purposes. One may show the roads needed for a touring holiday; another may reveal the contours needed to understand a hillside. A beautiful world map for a study may need a different size and finish from one used every day in a classroom.

We help customers think through the questions that make the difference:

• Coverage: does the map include the whole area you need?
• Scale and detail: is the information useful and readable for the task?
• Edition: what does this particular map show, and when was its information prepared?
• Format: will it be folded, carried, framed, hung or written on?
• Finish: which available material suits its intended use?

Our guides to choosing an Australian map, choosing a wall map and choosing a world globe are useful places to begin.

Printed with purpose in Perth

Alongside the products we source from map publishers and globe makers, we produce selected maps and prints in our own Perth workshop.

Print-on-demand production gives specialist titles a practical future. A map can be produced when it is needed, in a suitable available size and material, without relying on a large warehouse stock of every possible version. It also creates opportunities for historical reproductions, large wall maps and small custom projects.

Our production uses professional HP large-format printing technology, supplied and serviced by Perth specialist Artref. Careful reproduction matters when the subject contains small place names, fine roads, contour lines or subtle relief shading. We select the print medium to suit the product, using options including paper, canvas and waterproof Tyvek where appropriate.

Our article Mapworld and HP: The Perfect Partnership explains the equipment, inks and materials behind this work.

Large-format map printing at Mapworld, where fine linework and readable detail are central to the finished result.

Custom printing for a particular project

Our custom printing and laminating service also works with maps, plans, charts, aerial imagery, GIS output, posters and other large documents.

If you have a project in mind, tell us the intended use, finished size, quantity and preferred material. We can discuss the file and suitable production options before you order. Available sizing and finishes depend on the source artwork and the product.

Enlarging a map makes its content bigger; it does not add new geographic information. A custom print also retains the currency of its source. Those are useful distinctions when deciding what will work on a wall or in the field.

Finishing that earns its place

A map intended for repeated handling needs a finish chosen with that use in mind. Clear lamination can help protect a working map, while canvas and timber rails can give a display piece a different presence.

Hot lamination is a particular part of our workshop’s expertise. Over more than 30 years, the business has developed the judgement needed to balance heat, pressure, speed, film tension and the behaviour of different printed materials.

With encapsulated work, film encloses the sheet on both sides and seals beyond its edges. The aim is protection with a clear view of the map beneath it. Preparation, alignment and careful finishing all contribute to that result.

For a closer look at the process, read Hot Lamination at Mapworld: More Than 30 Years of Technical Expertise.

Professional laminating equipment is part of the process. Experienced handling of the print and film is just as important.

A material for the way you will use it

Depending on the individual map or print, our range includes:

Check each product for its available options. Our guide to laminated maps for business use explains why the right finish can make a working wall map more useful.

Care at the finishing table helps turn a large printed sheet into a map ready for its intended use.

A range shaped by the people who use it

Maps find their way into many parts of life. Our collections bring together products for the road, the water, the workplace, the classroom and the home.

The variety is part of the pleasure of the business. A teacher choosing a classroom globe, a traveller planning a remote route and a customer framing a historical map arrive with different questions. Each deserves an answer suited to the purpose.

Sharing the knowledge behind the map

We want the information around a product to be as useful as the product itself. Our articles explain choices, introduce mapping ideas and help people make more of what they buy.

You can learn how to read a topographic map, consider wall maps for schools and classrooms, or explore the appeal of historical maps as wall art.

There is room for both practical knowledge and curiosity. Understanding scale can help you choose a walking map. Looking closely at an old coastline can lead to an afternoon of reading. Turning a globe can begin a conversation that goes much further than expected.

A world worth exploring, and a curiosity worth encouraging. Illustrative scene.

Talk to the people behind Mapworld

Whether you are choosing your first globe, looking for a particular map sheet or planning a custom printing project, we welcome the enquiry.

Mapworld / Perth Map Centre
Unit 2 / 14 Whyalla Street
Willetton, Western Australia 6155

Telephone: [1300 795 697 (line 1300795697)](tel:1300795697)
Email: info@mapworld.com.au

See our contact page for current opening hours and visiting information. If you are travelling to see a particular product, get in touch beforehand so we can help you plan your visit.

Bring us the destination, the question or the idea. We will help you find a map that belongs in the journey.