This map caught my eye yesterday. Looking through the big red blobs (which are nicely transparent and gradient shaded) the map of the world looks really nice. The image is clean and clear without being heavy handed. In this age of satellite images and elevation data for the world all easily available, it's different to see a map that is defined by what is missing, namely color. The blue faded buffer around the continents would be fairly easy to pull off in ArcMap. The trick would be either starting with a not very detailed layer of the continents, or generalizing the resulting buffer to give it that nice rounded look. It looks like it's not a true 'buffer' either, because the buffer of the tips of South America and Africa are definitely thinner than the buffer around their edges. Since I live on the west coast and the majority of my maps have the ocean in them, I might try this. I've often looked at the solid blue mass on my maps and wondered how to make it better. I thought the watercolor effect would be great for variety, but since it still eludes me, I may try this.

Map via Mitt Romney's web site via Presentation Zen.