Map Design and Composition (with a touch of Gestalt)

Map design and the principles of cartography are a bit of a theme this week, it would appear.  Gestalt Theory comes into play in this as well, which is of interest to me, as the whole "seeing the forest for the trees" and "the whole is more than the sum of its parts" ideas of cognition always fascinated me in psychology courses.  The Gestalt ideas of perception are useful when it comes to designing an effective map- namely in considering how the various map elements will be perceived by the map user.  Concepts like Similarity (cognitively grouping objects according to their general shape) and  Figure-Ground relationships (perceiving certain objects as closer, and thus more important, based on their relative size) come into play in the design of an effective map.

  
In consideration of these Gestalt principles I used the same symbol for the 3 different types of schools, but changed the size and color to differentiate between elementary, middle and high schools.  Their shape similarity ideally allows the viewer to immediately recognize that all of the point symbols are schools.  I also made the school symbol colors more vibrant and saturated against a more subdued and pastel background palette, which allows them to better stand out, as they are the main thematic content of the map.  The background information, like streets and parks, are shaded in the lightest grey possible, which allows for a certain level of visibility, but doesn't interfere visually with the more important mapped features.  

The Art/Science of Cartography and GIS

I've often been asked the question "what is GIS?" In response my answer has always been "it's kinda like computer cartography." This is, however, somewhat of a misrepresentation.  The manipulation of cartographic data to create maps is surely a large part of working with GIS, but cartography and GIS are not synonyms, as the practice of working with GIS involves spatial analysis and assessment that is not inherent to the definition of cartography.  This week was dedicated to the exploring the principles of the art and science of cartography within the GIS framework- achieved by using GIS to manipulate cartographic data to create different maps of Mexico.

Above is a simple choropleth map of Mexico's population by state.  This map was easy enough to make, and is pretty self-explanatory- the states of Mexico are colored different shades according to their populations, with the ranges described by the legend.  The part that I got a little held up on was the selection of a color ramp for the population classes.  How does one select between different shades of reds, greens, purples, yellows, and every other color combination of the rainbow?!  My instinct for these kinds of choices has always been to pick whatever color scheme is aesthetically appealing to me personally, but, upon further reflection on this week's lectures and readings, this was probably not the most sensible course.  The colors shouldn't detract from the maps thematic content,  plain and simple.  The scheme above that I ultimately went with is (hopefully) subdued and appropriate.  The ancillary elements, including the north arrow, scale bar and legend, are small enough to not detract from the map's information, but are large enough to be legible and visibly present.  

I am hopeful that this lesson in cartographic style will serve to improve my map-making abilities, and that in the future I won't be tempted to create maps with what are probably garish and inappropriate color schemes.  Which I have admittedly done, because I am an unabashed fan of all things unreasonably gaudy and ostentatious.  Seriously, I love bright colors and glitter- but that affinity needn't translate to my professional and academic pursuits.

CorelDraw, Graphic Design and Losing Time

Graphic Design is a skill I greatly admire, but one that I have no formal training in- I have used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop in GIS positions I've held, but I am entirely self-taught.  For this reason I found this week's assignment, using CorelDraw to modify a basic map, quite intimidating.  I must admit, however, that I had forgotten how easy it is to slip into the "flow" when creating and editing a design project, to lose track of time, and experience the satisfaction of attempting to tweak something to (relative) perfection.

 

This was the final product of my efforts, and I am a little embarrassed to admit how much time I spent creating and modifying the above map.  (it was a lot.  I spent a lot of time.  Let's not worry about exactly how much.)  It wasn't that it was difficult, per se, but that it's easy to fall into kind of a trance-like flow of moving and re-sizing, changing colors, etc.  

I feel satisfied with the above submission, but am interested to see what kind of grade I receive for it.  I also enjoyed working with CorelDraw, as I found it similar enough to Adobe Illustrator that I was able to pick it up easily.  Overall I was relatively pleased with all aspects of this week's work.     

You gotta OWN your map...

Making a map and including all of the necessary data to communicate whatever spatial information you're trying to communicate effectively is one thing, but the presentation itself is quite another.  For this week we take a look at elements essential for appropriate map presentation, and your humble blog author is a bit ashamed to admit that in considering these essential map elements for this course I must necessarily disclose that previous maps I've created for past employers may have been a bit lacking....

The above was my submission for class, and you'll notice it includes:  title, north arrow, scale bar, inset reference map of Florida, legend, name and data source.  Ostensibly all of the necessary elements of a well-presented map.  Yours truly was not remiss in including any of these elements in creations submitted to employers in the past, with the exception of one component of arguably tantamount importance- the map's data source.  It is sadly true, the cited data source was not something I thought to include in maps I've created previously, and can only describe the omission as one of completely neglectful oversight on my part.

But today is a new day!  I am fortunate enough to now be working on a graduate degree, and am finally getting caught up on all of the formal GIS training I've lacked my entire career thus far.  This steady review of the basics of GIS is necessary for my continued growth and developing expertise in this very complicated discipline, and for that I am immensely grateful.  The map of the UWF campus above is another submission in my nascent journey as a GIS graduate student, and another example of work on my personal endeavors in this GIS nouveau....    

  

Map Critique

This week's task finds us reviewing examples of "good" and "bad" maps, and evaluating them using Edward Tufte's 20 points from his The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. The maps below are my choices of quintessential good, and bad, according to those criteria.

(map produced by Medford District BLM)

I feel the above map embodies Tufte's calls for both simple design with lack of clutter, and clear depiction of the data it intends to convey.  The viewer can immediately and easily identify the content pictured in the legend, and draw whatever conclusions necessary about the relationship between land ownership and watershed boundaries.  The inset map on the side is an elegant and simple way to convey to the viewer the map extent within the larger context of the state, without using unnecessary space within the mapped area's extent.

 (map produced by R. Reed)

The above appears to be a bus map of central London, which becomes evident upon inspection of the labeled roads and parks.  The map conspicuously lacks a title, an important piece of information that, along with a scale bar, Tufte logically advises be present.  London is an ancient and densely populated urban center, which lacks any kind of large-scale planning or grid pattern in its roads, and anyone attempting to produce a simple and easy-to-read map of the city faces a formidable challenge.  The author of the above appears to give in to the temptation to include many possible details, and in doing so creates a map that is busy, cluttered and visually unappealing.  Tufte advises avoiding this, as the cluttered picture obscures the main points the data is meant to convey- which, in this instance, are central London bus routes.

First Lab Assignment! ArcGIS Overview map

This map has the distinction of being my very first creation, turned in for credit, for a class I am taking to earn my Master's degree.  If I'm not mistaken, this is the first map I have created for a class (as opposed to a job) in over a decade.  It's been rather a while since I've even used ArcGIS, and making this map was a bit more challenging than I expected.  The finer points of GIS mapping are slowly coming back to me though, and I remain optimistic about my ability to succeed in my current academic endeavor.

Allow me to introduce myself-

My name is Emily, and I am working on a Master's degree in GIS through the University of West Florida.  I suppose I could be referred to as a "map enthusiast" of sorts.  At any rate, I intend to resurrect my career working with GIS, and surmised that the optimal way to do so at this point in my life is through more rigorous academic pursuits.

I'm a Michigan transplant currently residing in south Florida, but I've moved about quite a bit.  Here is a story map with some of the highlights:
http://bit.ly/1yC2kkf

I must say that I am looking forward to the challenge of re-entering the academic world after a decade plus hiatus, and sincerely hope I shall once meet with success as a student...