Lecture 5

Map design

Cartography

Cartography is the art, science and technology of making maps together with their study as scientific documents and works of art - British Cartographic Society

The conception, the designing and the execution of the map – Robinson

Map process

Reality Cartographer Map (replace reality with symbols) Map reader

What is a map? Real things

Real things reduced to points, lines, or polygons

Drawn with symbols in different colors

Types of Map Reference

Location and position of features Roads State capitols Time zones

Thematic Single theme, topic, attribute

Population density Temperature variation Pickups per capita

Reference maps show locations

Thematic map show attributes

Colors and labels: Reference or Thematic?

Class or groups based on attribute value

Number of classes Eye sees up to 8

variations of one color Be careful

Classification methods

Equal Interval Equal range, 100-200, 200-300, 300-400 Some groups may not have objects in them

Natural groups Objects with similar values, make a group

Quantile Equal number of objects per group 5 groups, 50 states, 10 states per group

Manual

Break points Define highest number in class Which classification method?

Quantile Add break points Total number divided by number

of classes 58 California counties 5 classes 58/5 = 11 counties per class

Dot maps show density

Graduated symbols, bigger, more

Chart maps, piece size, reflects value

Pie size can be proportional

Thematic Map exercise

Parts of a mapNeat line

Legend

Scale Credits

North arrowInset

Ground

Figure

Title

Balance of map parts

Title Here

Title of my map Here

Which is balanced?

Hierarchy – Front to Back Map topic should be forward

Which is forward? Land? Water?

No neatline

Many neatlines

Scale1:1

1:10

LargeScale

SmallScale

1:2

Large and small scale maps1:3000 1:100,000

1:150,000,000 1:300,000,000

LargeScale

SmallScale

Scale and Generalization Raster and digitized outline, very detailed

Scale and Generalization Outline is very detailed with each pier

Scale and Generalization Yellow generalization for smaller scale maps

Scale and Generalization As you zoom out (smaller scale) all that detail

isn’t needed and actually takes longer to draw

Date map created or data collected?

Graticule

What do these colors mean?

Red Blue Green Brown Yellow

Color adds meaning

Beware of software’s default colors

Colors on a map Eye sees only 12 colors at

a time Be careful

Number of classes Eye sees up to 8

variations of one color Be careful

Fonts, bold, wording, and size

Distribution of Employment by State 1996 USA: Employment Distribution

1996

U.S. Employment America at Work Where the Jobs are Today

Labeling the legend Label should not be “Legend” What do the numbers mean

Bad map

Better map

What’s wrong with this map?