I'm thinking we need a ATL Map Tut stickied somewhere...
There's a subliminal rule on these that if you make your map graphically beautiful with Photoshop, the content might not be criticized as much, whereas some excellent maps using the default basemap are criticized as being bland.
The whole point of making ATL maps isn't just aesthetics of a map. It's the content. So I perfectly understand if a map looks like crap, and has an amateur-ish ATL illustration. Just don't get all commercialized and wowed by the pretty Photoshop maps (Again, not saying they're even close to bad- people who spend that much effort into their look of a map has obviously spent that effort researching).
-DireSituation
Indeed, there is a notable circle of us who don't care what the map looks like (well, as long as it isn't overly horrible) as long as the map conveys the point.