Cartographic Design Lab: Ward 7 Schools

This week we produced a map showing Elementary, Middle and High Schools in Ward 7 of Washington, D.C.   It included an insert map showing the location of Ward 7 within the city.  The focus of the lab was to use key design elements when producing a map.

I tried using Gestalt's Principles of visual hierarchy, contrast, figure-ground relationship, and balance.  By using larger, bright red symbols, schools become the emphasis. Ward 7 is easy to see because the light color shows up well against both grey and blue.  Streets are less important, so they have a light grey color and thin lines. I balanced the map by placing three similar-sized boxes containing the inset map, legend, and title in a roughly triangular formation.  Less important elements such as the north arrow, scale, data source and author/date are in smaller font with no borders.

It is easy to spend lots of time playing around with design elements - tweaking could be nearly endless if there weren't so many other things to do.  

Three maps of Mexico

This week we made 3 maps to practice what we learned in "Own Your Map", adding a few more skills along the way.

The topographical map was my favorite because of the ability to play around with the color options.  Some really made elevation clear, while others made the more subtle changes disappear.

This map showing population ranges within the states of Mexico was challenging because of problems I had making the ranges into round numbers.  I wasn't able to do it the way we were instructed because the numbers automatically changed to things other than what I typed.  In the end I changed them within the legend by renaming them.

This map taught me the most about how to change symbols, both on the map and within the legend.  It took a LONG time, but I'm happy with the result.

I'm still taking a long time with the labs.  The discussion group helped a lot this week with the resizing and neatline issues I was having.  Finding the data source in the metadata/item description eluded me.

CorelDraw Lab

Week 2: Using CorelDraw to enhance a map of Florida

This week we exported a map from ArcMap to Corel, then learned how to edit and create elements on the map.  These included essentials such as the title, north arrow, neatline, data source, cartographer, and date created, and also several images imported from the web.  Layout and design requirements included rearranging these items and adjusting colors and styling to create an appealing map.

Week 2: Own Your Map

Own Your Map: UWF Campus Location in Escambia County

This week's lab focused on making a basic map in ArcGIS.  After resizing a large map of Florida to make it an insert map,  I added data to create a full size map showing the location of the UWF Campus within Escambia County.  Interstate highways and rivers were added, and I fine tuned the map by clipping the data frame so the rivers and roads displayed correctly within the shape of the county.  I edited symbols for the campus location, the interstate and the rivers, and changed the fill color of the county.  Then I added and edited essential elements: a title, legend, north arrow, scale, cartographer's information, map creation date, and data source.  The map was exported as a jpeg.

Something I haven't figured out yet is why the top part of the frame doesn't show up in the jpeg version.  Also, my filepaths are not as short as in the example from the Process Summary template, so I must be importing my data from the R: drive incorrectly.  It worked, but I ended up with an output folder of S:\csewall/IntroArcGIS\Lab2\02_OwnYourMap\02_OwnYourMap instead of having it neatly in the Lab2 folder I created.  When I tried to move all the data from the "OwnYourMap"folder into the Lab2 folder, the Escambia County map layer wasn't on the page.

The learning curve remains steep, but I feel like I'm making progress despite the obstacles and the few things that remain not quite right.

Week 1 Lab: Overview of ArcGIS

Map #1

It has been a struggle to complete, and perhaps it's not perfect, but here is my first map.  It was done with some serious limitations on my computer (a problem with the Dell XPS 15 monitor which makes everything in ArcMap and on eDesktop appear in very tiny font, with very tiny icons, giving me a very big headache).

The process of creating the map was straightforward, and the directions were very clear.  I added two data layers to the world map, spent some time learning about tool bars and the attribute table, worked with some of the graphic design elements, and saved it as a jpeg.

If I had been able to see more clearly, I probably would have been able to line up the bottom edge of the map correctly.   When I tried to get the data frame to fit inside the page, I was not able to find the "Distribute" and "Fit to Margins" option.

This was a good introductory lab. On to the next lesson!

Module 1: Map Critique

Module 1: Map Critique    

The task for Module 1 involved evaluating two maps, one well-designed and the other not, using criteria learned in the lesson.   The two I chose share a similar base map shape, making it obvious to me that one communicated information clearly while the other was a confusing mess.

The map "North American English Dialects, Based on Pronunciation Patterns" demonstrates a number of bad qualities of map design.  Most notable among these are a lack of clarity, precision and efficiency, and an abundance of Map Crap.  Clearly the author had a large amount of data to convey, but putting it all on one map was a mistake.  There are so many textures, boundary lines, and labels in various sizes and colors, that no patterns emerge.  An excessive amount of text is written next to each label, and there are too many labels on the map itself.  Furthermore, the title is not clearly displayed. It takes a long time to read all the information, so although the map conveys a great number of ideas, it does not do so in an efficient way with the least ink in the shortest space.  It's cluttered and confusing.

The map "Largest Ancestry:2000" is an example of a well-designed map.   The title is large and clear, insets are used to good effect, the main map is uncluttered.  Sources are clearly indicated, scale is easy to find, and extra space to the east of Florida is used effectively with the inclusion of a small amount of informative and useful text.  Text size is appropriate throughout, and the colors chosen for each ancestry group stand out well in contrast to one another.

Hello everyone,

I live in midcoast Maine with my two boys, ages 9 and 12, and my three cats.  It's a frosty, snowy morning here, perfect for sitting down at my desk and getting started on a new educational adventure.  

After teaching high school English and Social Studies for 15 years, I spent a couple of years working at my family's business, Hermit Island Campground, before beginning an MA in Archaeology and Heritage with the University of Leicester.  I completed it in 2011. Their distance learning program was excellent, and much of what I learned about writing, study habits, self-motivation, and working to deadlines will be helpful as I work to complete this online certificate program.  There are several daunting aspects of what lies ahead - the computer/math side of things will be my biggest challenge, I think.  On the positive side, I love using, making and looking at maps, so I have no doubt that I'll enjoy the process and will benefit from it in many ways.  I'm also excited to learn about graphic design.

This GIS certificate program will give me essential new skills, tools and knowledge I need to be a competent archaeologist.  I hope to work in New England where I have always lived, and perhaps also in SE Asia, where I have enjoyed doing research over the past decade.  

I look forward to this course, and to working with this group.   Enjoy the tour - http://bit.ly/1  

Cheers!

Chris