Making Effective Maps

8/18/2019 Making Effective Maps

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Making Effective and

Meaningful Maps

Some Basic Do’s and Don'ts

February 26th, 2008

Brooke Campbell

GEOG 570 Presentation


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Outline

• Cartography overview• Why make maps?

• Making maps meaningful and effec

questions to ask

• Important map elements

• Anatomy and impact of a Good

• Anatomy and impact of a Bad Map

• Tools and references• Summary


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Cartography

“The art and science of the organization and comm

geographically related information…into map

-UPurdue

• A meaningful and effective way of visualcommunicating spatial information

• A way of generating a spatial database fo

• General or thematic cartography

• Is a component of GIS• Increasingly digital


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Why Make Maps?

• A visual representation of geograph

information

• A symbolic simplification

• An effective way of presenting findinformation

• Can generate new understanding

• A way of storing and recording dat• A tool for spatial analysis


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Making Maps Meaningful and E

Questions to Ask

• Why is this map being made?

• Who is the intended audience?

• What data, tools, and resources are a

• What about the data is being general

• What design elements are needed in

properly communicate?

• In what context will the map be used

• What is the format of the final proje


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Important Map Elemen

The Bare Minimum• Scale

• Orientation

• Legend• Data source

• How and when was the data

processed and who did it


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Important Map Elements:

The Specifics• Map Title

• Context, inset, index maps

• Symbols

• Map projection

• Neatline


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Important Map Element

Visual Layout• Visual hierarchy of map elements

• Level of detail

• Group related layer featureselements

• Symbology

• Colour value, hue, class breaks

• Choice and positioning of fonts

• Interplay between back and fore-

ground• Consistency


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When Bad Maps Happen to Goo


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When Bad Maps Happen to Good


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Bad Map Breakdown

A Visual Summary


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Implications of Bad Ma

• Distracts/detracts from message• Gives incorrect/misleading messag

information

• A potential waste of time, money, e

• Practical implications

– Getting lost (Mapquest)

– Bombing the wrong location

– May cause border disputes– Taxes or subsidies issues


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A (mostly) Good Map


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Meaningful and Effective

A Recent Example

Fig. 1. Global map (A) of cumulative human impact across 20 types. (Insets) Highly impacted regions in the Eastern CaribNorth Sea (C), and the Japanese waters (D) and one of the lregions, in northern Australia and the Torres Strait (E).


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Implications of Good M

• Can meaningfully and effectively c

important spatial information

• Message can be conveyed quickly a

clearly

• Can create new understanding

• Can inform general public

• Can inform policy and decision-ma


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Some Mapping Tools

• ESRI ArcGIS Desktop

• GRASS-open source GIS

http://grass.itc.it/

• Landsat Thematic Mapper

• CAD/OCADhttp://www.ocad.com/en/index.htm

• WMS

http://wms-sites.com/ • LIDAR

• Orthophotography

• Google Earth?


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Conclusions

• Maps have long been a tool for effectively and storing spatial information

• In order to make maps meaningful and effecritical to always consider goals and audien

• There are many map elements that need to appropriately so as to effectively convey y

• Concepts may seem straightforward- execuanother matter entirely!

• A bad map means your message is lost or m

can have serious consequences!• There are a lot of resources available to hel

your map as meaningful and effective as po


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A Few Useful Referenc• Krygier, J., Wood, D. 2005. Making maps: a visu

design for gis. Guilford publications, 292 pp.• Monmonier, M., de Blij, H.J. 1996. How to Lie w

Edition. University of Chicago Press, 220 pp.

• Tufte, Edward R. [1983] (2001). The Visual DispQuantitative Information, 2nd Edition, Cheshire, Press

• The Map Room-A Weblog About Mapshttp://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/

• ESRI Mapping Center

• Land Trust GIS

http://www.landtrustgis.org/

• Brian’s UBC GEOG Searchable Linkbasehttp://www.geog.ubc.ca/gislinks/

• Lee McCormack’s (U of Texas)You Are Here: M

http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~i385e/readings/mmaps_101.htm


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Making Effective Maps

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