Philip's sample map is quite slick. For interesting tools to make maps in Illustrator, check out software from avenza.com. They provide a certain amount of sample data, and their add-ons allow AI to import standard USGS public domain data (but it still takes some fussing to symbolize it they way you might like). Avenza has some mapping discussion lists you can join as well.An alternative to buying map data is to get maps on demand from places like mapquest.com. If you want small-scale and/or non-US maps and don't need a lot of local detail, a great server site is http://www.aquarius.geomar.de/omc/make_map.html. They have a CGI interface to the open source GMT (generic mapping tools) mapping system (for Unix) which will serve maps in PS or AI format that can have a number of optional geological cultural and other themes added to them, and provide a limited choice of projections. I've used them generate map animations on my end, but their server is not very swift and these files can be fairly big (500K-1 MB+). They do provide a choice of detail levels that seems to work for some themes only.
There are quite a lot of sites that serve free map data now, and if you contact me I can give you more info. My new web site will have these links, so stay tuned... -Geoff
-- Geoffrey Dutton, April 28, 1999