Designing Great Maps for Print and Image Allen Carroll and Larry Orman 2015 Esri UC.

Designing Great Maps for Print and Image

Allen Carroll and Larry Orman

2015 Esri UC

About this workshop series

#1: Print/image

#2: Web/mobile (next!)

About Allen

and Larry

Allen Carroll, Esri Online Content Mgr. •Family cartographer and navigator since age 5•27 years at National Geographic, 12 of them as Chief Cartographer•Believer in the power of maps to inform and inspire

Larry Orman, Exec. Dir., GreenInfo Network•Magic marker map maker for years pre-GIS•19 years NGO advocacy and 19 geotech world •Maps are a powerful lens for seeing the world

Why we’re here

We’re inundated with

data but starved

for meaning

This? . . . or this?

What we’ll cover in this session

Why good map design?

Visual perception

Communication and map design

Design process, before/after

Common pitfalls

What to remember

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

Good Map Design – why we’re here

Who are we?

What do we want?

But . . .

Good Design Matters

➔ Maps ARE communication – must persuade, inform

➔ Maps can take big efforts ($, time)

➔ Maps are hard for people to understand

➔ Professional credibility from product quality

➔ Competition for attention – display maps losing out!

Caveats

Focus = GIS-based display maps

NOT:•Illustration/publication•Web/interactive

2

How Visual Perception

Works

2 6 6 9 3 8 7 2 1 4 8 0 9 5 6 7 9 11 5 4 7 8 2 6 0 9 1 2 7 8 9 1 3 4 50 4 1 9 8 7 2 4 5 1 3 9 0 1 6 2 9 2

2 6 6 9 33 8 7 2 1 4 8 0 9 5 6 7 9 11 5 4 7 8 2 6 0 9 1 2 7 8 9 1 33 4 50 4 1 9 8 7 2 4 5 1 33 9 0 1 6 2 9 2

How your brain perceives

<1 second

PRE-ATTENTION

1-3 seconds

ATTENTION

3-20 seconds +

COGNITION

3+ secondsengage content

<1 secondColor, shapes, contrast

1-2 secondsresolve objects

First glimpse is critical for engagement

<1 second 1-2 seconds 3+ seconds

Field of vision

20’

30’

3’

Page sized map/image Poster sized map

Eye tracking, movement

Design for eye movement

3

Communication and Design

Is map design just cartography?

Communication design elements

Intent Audience StrategyFormat

Who is your audience?

What is your point?


Imagine your audience . . .

Willing to learn, but busy

Intelligent, but maybe not map savvy

i.e., Allen’s mom..

Your point . . ?

● A message

● A sequence of telling

● An audience in mind

Make your POINT with storytelling

From raw data

>

to story

>

to storyFrom raw data

What’s the point?

No story, no point

“A little forest left, one big opportunity”

Format: Where and how will your map be seen?

Close up working poster

Small publication image

Page size atlas

Media event >

Strategy for Map Design

What type of product?

What goal?

Aha!

Inspire

Compel

Persuade

Inform

Adjudicate

Strategy for Map Design

What product?

What goal?

4

Design Process

Design gives voice to our information

DESIGNING a map . . .

(Assume story and audience)

1. Process

2. Concept

3. Composition

4. Layout

5. Branding

6. Cartography

1. PROCESS of Design

7: Finalize

6: Refine, TEST

5: FULL Draft, Test

4: Draft MAP Content

3: Draft FRAME

2: Composition SKETCH

1: CONCEPT + Data Test

2. Concept

Sketch main

message and

key elements

using layout

tools

3. Composition . . .

How visual space works

•overall balance

•rule of thirds

•negative space

•flow/eye movement

4. Layout

Grids:

•align

•apportion

•balance

5. Branding

Simple look & feel

Color

Logo

(fonts)

5. Branding

Organizational branding

6. Cartography

Design to support

the story!

6. CARTOGRAPHY

LABELS

fonts, sizes, colors

Use a systematic

approach for labels

6. CARTOGRAPHY

Thanks, Gretchen Peterson

and Cindy Brewer!

COLORS:

support message

hierarchy, and

play well together

TECHNIQUES –

Map in Title Bar

Determine final extent of the map (any changes = new shapefile)

Create a shapefile of title bar (create a graphic of your title bar, convert to shapefile)

Use the Erase tool on title bar, inputting shapefile you want to extend into the title bar

TECHNIQUES – Map in

Title or Bottom Bar

Determine final extent of the map (any changes = new shapefile)

Create a shapefile of title bar (create a graphic of your title bar, convert to shapefile)

Use the Erase tool on title bar, inputting shapefile you want to extend into the title bar

TECHNIQUES – Feather Boundary

1. Run Buffer wizard on outline feature – 10+ rings

2. Select options for buffers styles - coastal fades use the “Outside only” option.

3. Add a field for the transparency values – use field calculator to divide or multiply the buffer values, with most transparent as highest number (0-100), least transparent ring as lowest.

4. Use Symbology tab of Layer Properties to select color.

5. Click Advanced Transparency - select transparency values field. Each ring of the buffer will be displayed as the color you selected with that percent of transparency.

If design doesn’t feel

good in your heart,

what the mind thinks

doesn’t matter

Extreme Makeover

The GIS Edition

How do you know a design is good?

• 3 second test

• Formal critiques

• Pay attention over time

• Compare yours to others’

5

Map DesignPitfalls

Pitfalls in Map Design

1. Undefined overall message

2. Everything at once - no hierarchy

3. Passive titles

4. Disorganized grid

5. Poor color choices

6. Overdefined elements (boxes..)

7. Element-size relationships

8. Fonts, label hierarchies

Pitfalls:

Undefined

message

Pitfalls:

Everything at once

(no hierarchy)

Pitfalls:

Passive &

extended titles

Hamilton Township WetlandsCape Atlantic Conservation District

e.g.,

What We’ve Accomplished

Areas Needing Protection

etc.

Pitfalls:

Disorganized

grid

Pitfalls:

Poor color choices

Pitfalls:

Overdefined

elements

(esp. boxes)

Pitfalls:

Confusing font

hierarchies

(and layout)

Pitfalls:

Element – size

relationships

Legend

Scale

North arrow

What to Remember

6

➔ Maps are stories that unfold in layers of perception

➔ See through audience eyes, from the beginning

➔ Direct the eye through your map story

➔ Remove and simplify

➔ Always grow your design skills

See more on Instagram

instagram.com/greeninfonetwork

and

www.greeninfo.org

Thank you…

• Please fill out the session survey on your mobile app

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• Click “Technical Workshop Survey”• Answer a few short questions and

enter any comments

Larry [email protected]

Allen [email protected]

www.esri.com/storymaps

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Designing Great Maps for Print and Image Allen Carroll and Larry Orman 2015 Esri UC.

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