Revisiting the Basics of Cartography & Map Design Principles

Thus begins a new semester, and a welcomed review of cartography basics.  Having learned to make maps the right way in the past year, it is with particular satisfaction that I revisit the novel concepts of good map design once again this week.  Specifically, there are five map design principles accounted for, including legibility, visual contrast, figure-ground relationships, hierarchical organization, and balance.  

The above, ideally, represents all five of the principles of map design.  Legibility is preserved by the simple display font, and the sizes of the various text.  The text is of a size and color that allows for maximum visual contrast of the graphics.  The symbols for the various mapped features are large enough to be seen, but one doesn't obscure all of the others.  Visual contrast is also maximized with the less saturated color hues used for the background of Travis County, and the surrounding area.  The inset map colors are less saturated as well, to preserve their lower position on the visual hierarchy, but still have enough contrast to visually differentiate them from the other map elements and the background.

Figure-ground relationship is represented with the darker color background for Travis County, the map's focus, and the lighter shade of the surrounding area.  This allows the focus county to stand out, as it is highest on the visual hierarchy among the map's graphics.  Further, the most important map symbols, the golf courses and rec. centers, are the most saturated and brightest hues, bringing them forward based on their relative importance to the map's theme.  Hierarchical order is also seen with the relative size of the various elements- the title and subtitle text and the legend text are the largest, as they are meant to be among the most visible elements.  The scale bar, north arrow and inset map are smaller, as they represent ancillary map elements, and the citations at the bottom are the smallest, as they are least central to the map's theme.

Balance is preserved with the position of the various graphic objects on the page.  The mapped area itself is centered, with the title and subtitle text centered above it.  The legend and inset map are positioned on the bottom, left and right justified, with the scale bar and north arrow centered below and between.  Finally, the citation text for the map author and data sources are positioned along the bottom margin, and are justified to the right and left sides of the page as well, which hopefully balances the various graphics and whitespace.  The objective here is to create a harmonic balance on the page, so that nothing looks crowded or out of place, which, when properly executed, creates a finished and professional-looking map.