Some maps I made for a Global Witness report on the links between political violence and ruby mining are now online: Conflict Rubies: How luxury jewellers risk funding military abuses in Myanmar.
The PDF version of the report has three maps I made (and one I didn't) - they show the locations of armed groups around two mining areas and gemstone trading routes in eastern Myanmar. These maps are quite dense with information, which comes with difficulties in trying to make sure the message still sticks out.
I found QGIS' point displacement symbology to be helpful for showing density of conflict events sharing the same geographic location - it doesn't block out the underlying features as much as a graduated symbol might.