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

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

2 Cartographic concepts Cartography defined The communication channel - Why maps fail Objectives & limitations affecting design Cartographic design issues Abuse of GIS cartography

3 What is cartography? Art Science Technology Making maps Presentation Use

4 How do I communicate through maps? Cartographer Reality The geographic environment Compile Recognize Select Classify Simplify Symbolize Map Reality? Imagine Map user Read Analyze Interpret

5 What is cartographic design? Useful map Complex task (unlimited options) Highly creative mental activity Use concepts of communication Think in visual terms Beauty is NOT the MAIN objective

6 What are my cartographic objectives? The WHY? The HOW? Map objectives Design objectives Convey information Highlight spatial relationships Illustrate analysis results Easier comprehension of complex events Fulfill map objectives Assign meaningful symbology Ensure truthful depiction of reality Fulfill communication objectives

7 What are my communication objectives? General map Variety of information Equal importance Subtle symbology Thematic map Focused information Importance can vary Symbols can dominate Soils Qualitative Quantitative Population

8 Which projection should I use? More than 4000 No perfect projection All have distortions Shape Cylindrical Area Conical Distance Direction Azimuthal

9 How much detail should I include? Omit? Aggregate? Collapse? Simplify? Displace? Typify? C5 E5 C2 C3 E1 B1 B4 B C E Refine? Classify? Exaggerate?

10 What symbol characteristics should I use? Color Qualitative Shape Texture / Pattern Quantitative Graytone value Size

11 What colors should I use? Connotations Conventions Preferences For screen or paper Hue Dimensions R G B Y Value % Saturation %

12 Does the eye have limitations? Maximum 12 colors Maximum 7 8 shades

13 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

14 Can I used special effects? Texture vibration Optical illusions Orientation exerts direction

15 When do I use patters? Only for areas Qualitative symbology Consider effects of reduction

16 How legible are my symbols? Size of symbol Distance of viewing Perfect vision?

17 How do I create visual contrast / hierarchy? Differentiation Relative importance

18 How do I contrast text on maps? Legibility issues - Text color vs background color Qualitative Best Quantitative - Uppercase vs lowercase - No fancy fonts Tigris Orlando Color Size Redlands San Diego Baghdad Basra Style Form River RIVER River River RIVER River Form Value Redlands San Diego Color Tigris Orlando Avoid

19 Where do I place names at POINTS? Readability issues Makramville 1 2 Jackville Maplex Lauraville 3 Marinaville Majdville 5 6 Shirleyville

20 Where do I place names along LINES? Ambiguity issues?? Maplex

21 How do I label contours? Faster reading issues Maplex

22 What angles are suitable for names? Convenience issues Text Text Text Text Text

23 What map elements should I place on my map? Projection? Source? Date of data? Designed by Makram 2014

24 What is visual balance? Layout of map elements Visual center Visual (5%) h h x Geometric Visual weight - Size, value, brilliance, close to edge What about gaps?

25 Which of these maps is more visually balanced? TEST 1 A B C 1 2

26 Which of these maps is more visually balanced? TEST 2 A B

27 Which of these maps is more visually balanced? TEST 3 A B

28 Is North correct everywhere? N N Mollweide projection

29 What about my scale? Are these dog houses? Must be visually easy to read Is it correct? Is it easy to use?

30 What about my legend? Decimals? Necessary?

31 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

32 Always??? Think of the User

33 Questions?

34 Where can I read more about cartographic design? Brewer, Cynthia A. Designing Better Maps A Guide for GIS Users, Esri Press, 2005, ISBN Brewer, Cynthia A. Designed Maps A Sourcebook for GIS Users, Esri Press, 2008, ISBN Imhof, Eduard. Positioning Names on Maps, The American Cartographer, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp , Kachel, Bill O'Sullivan. Cartographic Design Using ARC/INFO poster, Esri Users Conference, Monmonier, Mark. How to Lie with Maps, The University of Chicago Press, 2nd ed., ISBN Murad-al-shaikh, Makram, Cartography with ArcGIS course manuals, EsrI, Inc. Course version 2.1, May Okabe, Masataka and Kei Ito. How to make figures and presentations that are friendly to color blind people, Aug Robinson, Arthur H et al. Elements of Cartography, 6th ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., ISBN

ArcGIS Tools for Professional Cartography

ArcGIS Tools for Professional Cartography By Makram Murad-al-shaikh M.S. Cartography Senior instructor ESRI Educational Services ICC - A Coruña - Spain, 9-16 July, 2005 Overview Overview of the ArcGIS