Basic principles of cartographic design Makram Murad-al-shaikh M.S. Cartography Esri education delivery team

Cartographic concepts

• Cartography defined

• The communication channel - Why maps fail

• Objectives & limitations affecting design

• Cartographic design issues

• Abuse of GIS cartography

What is cartography?

Use

Art Science Technology

Making maps

Presentation

How do I communicate through maps?

The geographic environment Compile Recognize

Select Classify

Simplify Symbolize

Read Analyze

Interpret Imagine

Map Map

Cartographer

Reality

Reality?

Map user

What is cartographic design?

Beauty is NOT the MAIN objective

Complex task (unlimited options)

Highly creative mental activity

Use concepts of communication

Think in visual terms

Useful map

What are my cartographic objectives?

• The WHY?

• The HOW?

Map objectives

• Convey information • Highlight spatial relationships • Illustrate analysis results • Easier comprehension of complex events

Design objectives

• Fulfill map objectives • Assign meaningful symbology • Ensure truthful depiction of reality • Fulfill communication objectives

What are my communication objectives?

Population Soils

Focused information Importance can vary

Symbols can dominate

Variety of information Equal importance Subtle symbology

General map

Thematic map

Qualitative Quantitative

Which projection should I use?

• More than 4000 • No perfect projection • All have distortions

Cylindrical

Conical

Azimuthal Direction

Distance

Shape

Area

How much detail should I include?

Displace?

Aggregate? Omit?

Simplify?

Collapse?

Typify?

Exaggerate? Classify?

Refine?

C E

B

C2 C3 E1 B1

E5 C5

B4

What symbol characteristics should I use?

Color

Shape

Texture / Pattern

Graytone value

Size

Qualitative

Quantitative

What colors should I use?

• Connotations • Conventions • Preferences • For screen or paper

R G B Y

Hue

20 30 50 85%

Value

100 70 40 10%

Saturation

Dimensions

Does the eye have limitations?

Maximum 12 colors

Maximum 7 – 8 shades

What about the color-impaired?

• Avoid pure green / red • Vary shapes, textures • Use brightness contrast (not more colors) Normal eye

Red defective

Green defective

Blue defective

Can I used special effects?

Texture vibration

Orientation exerts direction

Optical illusions

When do I use patters?

• Only for areas • Qualitative symbology • Consider effects of reduction

How legible are my symbols?

• Size of symbol • Distance of viewing • Perfect vision?

How do I create visual contrast / hierarchy?

Differentiation

Relative importance

How do I contrast text on maps?

• Legibility issues - Text color vs background color - Uppercase vs lowercase - No fancy fonts

Form

Tigris Orlando Color

Baghdad Basra Style

Qualitative

River RIVER River

Size

Redlands San Diego Value

Color

River RIVER River

Form

Quantitative

Tigris Orlando

Redlands San Diego

Best

Avoid

Where do I place names at POINTS?

• Readability issues

Makramville Jackville

Marinaville Lauraville

Majdville

Shirleyville

1 2

3 4

5 6

5 3 1

6

0 0

2 4

Maplex

Where do I place names along LINES?

• Ambiguity issues

Maplex

? ?

How do I label contours?

• Faster reading issues

Maplex

What angles are suitable for names?

• Convenience issues

Text

Text

Text

Text Text

What map elements should I place on my map?

Designed by Makram 2014

• Projection? • Source? • Date of data?

What is visual balance?

• Layout of map elements • Visual center

• Visual weight - Size, value, brilliance, close to edge

• What about gaps?

x h

(5%) h Visual

Geometric

Which of these maps is more visually balanced? TEST 1

A

2

1

C B

Which of these maps is more visually balanced? TEST 2

A B

Which of these maps is more visually balanced? TEST 3

A B

Is North correct everywhere?

N N

Mollweide projection

What about my scale?

Are these dog houses?

Must be visually easy to read

Is it correct? Is it easy to use?

What about my legend?

Necessary?

Decimals?

What about maps for publishing in ArcGIS Online?

• Cartography vs performance • Avoid

- Advanced Drawing Options in ArcMap

- Multiple layer symbols

- Picture symbols

- Dash line patterns, splining, and offsets

- Dot density fills

- Text halo masks and text fill patterns

- Complex SQL statements for text

• OR publish the map as a cached map service

Always Think

of the ? ?

?

User

Questions?

Where can I read more about cartographic design?

Brewer, Cynthia A. Designing Better Maps – A Guide for GIS Users, Esri Press, 2005, ISBN 1-58948-089-9

Brewer, Cynthia A. Designed Maps — A Sourcebook for GIS Users, Esri Press, 2008, ISBN 1-58948-160-7

Imhof, Eduard. “Positioning Names on Maps”, The American Cartographer, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 128-144, 1975.

Kachel, Bill O'Sullivan. “Cartographic Design Using ARC/INFO” poster, Esri Users Conference, 1995.

Monmonier, Mark. How to Lie with Maps, The University of Chicago Press, 2nd ed., 1996. ISBN 0-226-53420-0

Murad-al-shaikh, Makram, Cartography with ArcGIS course manuals, EsrI, Inc. Course version 2.1, May 2007.

Okabe, Masataka and Kei Ito. How to make figures and presentations that are friendly to color blind people, Aug. 2002.

Robinson, Arthur H et al. Elements of Cartography, 6th ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995. ISBN 0-471-55579-7