Week 3 - GIS Cartography

This week we covered the history of mapping generally, various mapping techniques, and discussed who has the right to create and analyze maps. The lab for this week covered three different mapping layouts, each using slightly more advanced display and layout techniques. These maps are discussed below.

Map 1 - View of Mexican States by Population

For our first map we were tasked with symbolizing the states of Mexico with an appropriate color scheme and using figure-ground design principles to make the country stand out. I did so with a range of brownish colors – the colors increase in darkness along with the increase in the population of each county. The background of the map was set to a light blue, and the surrounding countries were symbolized in yellow to help further distinguish Mexico. I decided to put a light mask around the state names to help them stand out a bit better (without the mask they seemed to blend in with the background).

Map 2 - View of Major Cities within Central Mexico

The second map shows principal cities within central Mexico. The cities were labelled based on their overall population (greater than 1 million) – this was defined by creating a special label class using an SQL definition under layer properties. The labels were then converted to annotation for greater ease of placement. When making this map I realized that my original color scheme for the Mexican states wasn’t going to quite work, so I changed the entire country to a light tan color. An inset map was placed to show where exactly the detailed view of Mexico is; to further clarify the location I matched the country color for Mexico to that used on my main map view.

Map 3 - DEM View of Mexico

The third and final map is a digital elevation model (DEM) map of Mexico. I went with traditional colors within a stretched color scheme to represent the DEM. I realize that there are some interpretation problems with this type of representation – it seems to suggest that the greener areas are lusher than they actually might be. But since this type of elevation representation has been around so long I think an argument can be made that it also represents low elevation (for certain generations anyway). For the inset map I decided to show all of North America and South America –I think one can get the sense of where Mexico is in the world without having to show the entire globe.

*Originally posted on 1/30/2015 @ 8:50 p.m. CST. Edited on 2/2/2015 at 2:15 p.m. to show the correct label tag (should be GIS4043, was initially mislabeled for GIS3015).

Week 2 - Intro to CartoGraphic Design with CorelDrawX7

The lab assignment

This week's lab for GIS3015 was focused on fine tuning ArcGIS created map products within CorelDrawX7. The purpose of the lab was not only to become more familiar CorelDraw, but to also learn what a graphics software program can do for a final map product.  

Our focus this week was to create a map of Florida for insertion within a children’s encyclopedia. In addition to the basic elements required for every map (e.g. a north arrow), the final maps for this week needed to include the following:

•  At least three state symbols, such as an image of the state animal
•  A unique symbol for the state capital
•  At least two cities labelled on the map, plus a change of the symbol color for the cities
•  At least one graphic style or effect created in CorelDraw, such as a drop shadow
•  A lightly colored background
•  An overall color scheme that is complementary (i.e. not too harsh on the eyes!)      

The final map, showing more than a bit of polish thanks to CorelDraw.

Technical description of my final map product

The map was designed with the idea that an older child is the intended target audience. Working under that theory I tried to keep the map content uniform and light while still being educational. To do this I decided to focus on two sub-themes: the state flower and animals, and major cities within the state.

In keeping with the educational vein I kept my fonts somewhat traditional (a mix of Times New Roman and Cambria), but played around a few of the non-technical map elements such as the title. Nearly all of the map text was created within CorelDraw – the exception was the Legend text which had been imported from ArcGIS. The map title was modified using the text properties docker. I spaced the title text far apart, and I found that I could choose to change only certain words or letters within any given text string – hence the yellow letters for the ‘sunshine’ part of my sub-title.

A drop shadow effect was created for the entire state of Florida. The picture insets were created by using the Power Clip Inside tool with an ellipse. The text around the pictures was then added with the text tool – all were created using the ‘text on a path’ technique that had been covered in the lab. In working with the picture text I found that it was automatically grouped with my image, so everything moved together when I wanted to adjust the position of the images… pretty neat, right? 

Personal thoughts on the lab exercise

I found this lab exercise to be deceptively simple… I’ve worked with both ArcGIS and CorelDraw before, but not necessarily in tandem with the same map, and admittedly my CorelDraw experience had been limited to sprucing up hand drawn sketch maps, not necessarily anything too complicated. There were some initial snafu’s with importing the point symbols from ArcGIS that took me hours to resolve. While working in CorelDraw I found that one really needs to have a workflow plan of action, otherwise things get crazy frustrating (such as realizing that I needed to move and resize the Florida… but I had already locked down my Legend box with the map scale!). To top it all off CorelDraw kept crashing on me – luckily I saved early and often!

In the end I spent a lot of time on this lab – but despite the time setbacks it was worth it. If I hadn’t encountered all the above issues, I wouldn’t have learned half as much about CorelDraw – or about critically thinking about how to best put together map.

Week 2- Own Your Map Lab

This week in GIS4043 the theme of the map lab was to 'Own Your Map'. I created a basic location map using an inset dataframe as an aid for the map viewer. For this example the main map view is of Escambia County, Florida. The location of the county within the overall state of Florida is shown in red on the small inset map.

I did what I could to 'own my map' by customizing the map legend and adhering to the same map text font and scale bar styles throughout. The symbols used on the map below had not been changed much from the lab example mainly because I thought that they already conveyed the point of the map quite well... and in terms of published maps similar to this the main location always seems to be a big fat star. Why reinvent the wheel?

The main map view also contains interstates and rivers that were clipped to the extent of Escambia County. I really enjoyed completing this part of the lab. Previously I had done clips using ArcToolbox and multiple copies of the data... frankly I had found clips to be somewhat of a labor intensive, migraine inducing experience. I had no idea clipping could be as easy as following a few steps within the overall dataframe view - and it's easily reversible too! As ridiculous as it sounds this new knowledge has opened up whole new worlds for me!

Completed map for the 'Own Your Map' lab.

Week 1 - Map Critique

Critique of map design using Edward Tuft's "20 Tufteisms"

 

The Good:

[Image Source: UWF R:\Example Maps]

The map above is an example of good map design.  The point of the map is clear almost before one read the text labels (Tufteism’s 1, 2, 3, 20) – this is a map concerning specific features on an island (in this case, archaeological features on Easter Island).  The map makes excellent use of the space available (Tufteism’s 3, 14), with helpful keys and map elements (scale bar, map keys, inset map) placed in the open areas around the main focus of the map.  The map is well labelled, with the label text presented in different fonts and sizes based on their importance to overall message of the map (Tufteism 7).  The labelling is uniform for each symbol type throughout the map, so it is not distracting or showing design variations (Tufteism 9).  There also isn’t anything redundant or extraneous on the map (Tufteism’s 15 -19).  The map could benefit from a north arrow, although perhaps that isn’t necessary given the latitude/longitude lines placed on the map.

The Bad: 

 

[Image Source: UWF R:\ Example Maps]

The map above is an example of poor map design.  According to Edward Tuft’s “20 Tufteisms”, a well-designed map should include the presentation of information in a clear and concise way (Tufteism’s 2 & 3), showing only what is necessary without a lot of junk (Tufteism’s 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20). Labeling on the map should be easy to follow, and should also explain what is on the map (Tufteism 7).  To start, it is unclear what the map is supposed to be a representation of. The above map is not easy to read (violation of Tufteism’s 1-3, 7, 20), and the sheer amount of symbols (all of which do not have a discernable key) are overwhelming to look at (violation of Tufteism’s 7, 13, 15 – 18).  There is an arrow pointing to something on the map, but it is unclear what that item might be, or what its significance is (violation of Tufteism 15, 18).  A scale bar is present, but for some reason had been placed over the map view itself – this makes it very difficult for the viewer to use, assuming that the viewer was able to find the scale in the first place (violation of Tufteism 17, 18).   The map could be improved by removing some of the symbols on the map.  The use of labels should be restricted to what is absolutely necessary, and the addition of a descriptive title, map key, north arrow, and scale bar (all placed off the map view) would help the viewer tremendously.

Greetings from Liz

Hello class!

Orientation: Meet Your Classmates Exercise 

 

I grew up in southeastern Michigan, where I had graduated from Oakland University with a BA Anthropology in 2002.  After graduation I moved out west, where I've been working as a contract Field Archaeologist for over the last 10 years - most recently for the Stanislaus National Forest doing survey work in areas that had been affected by the 2013 Rim Fire.

I'm married to a fellow Field Archy, and we live in the western Sierra Nevada Mountains in California; the photo to the left shows my husband and I on a hike near our home.  I love to hike and camp, and quite frankly I'm glad that I have a job that frequently combines the two!  I also love cooking, reading, and music.  Currently I amuse myself by attempting to play the piano.

I've worked with ArcGIS extensively over the years - making project and report maps, managing GPS data collected from the field, doing basic archaeological geodatabase management, creating data dictionaries for GPS units, etc.  I'd like to have a greater understanding of how GIS works, and to do more advanced operations such as model building.  Eventually I'd like to obtain work with a CRM firm working as a GIS manager, or similar.

My story map shows some of the highlights of where I've been with my career: http://bit.ly/14gXOtV

Week 1 - ArcGIS Overview Map Exercise

Orientation to online learning and ArcMap

The first week of class centered around an orientation to the online learning format and an overview exercise showing what ArcMap is all about. 

Various tutorials covered how to create a blog, set up your personal file system, and how to create a basic map using ArcMap.  Some of the information was a bit new to me, such as creating a blog.  The basics of ArcMap were not new to me, but I did learn a few things, such as what each file extension stands for within a single shapefile, and the difference between a raster and a vector graphic.

The lab for Week 1 involved the creation of a basic map.  I added two shapefiles to the map, then oriented and centered the view to one that was more visually pleasing (in this case, a landscape view).  I used the layout view to add additional elements to my map, such as a north arrow, scale bar, a symbol legend, and descriptive text.  After re-arranging these items in a way that I thought looked good, I further tweaked the view by customizing the properties of some of the map elements (specifically the map legend and the scale bar).

I exported my map as a .jpg file.  My final map is shown below.