Module 3: Typography



This week's lab was all about typography, the art of organizing, using and designing types or fonts. The purpose of the lab was to create a map of Marathon, FL and label a list of features following typographic guidelines. The outline of the map and inset map were created in ArcGIS Pro and imported into Adobe Illustrator using the ArcGIS Maps Extension. To create a crisp outline for the inset map, Clip Mask was used with the original map frame. Once the map was imported and the inset clipped and organized, map features were labeled and stylized and essential map elements were added. 

I found it challenging to strike a balance with so many features having to be labeled and not overcrowd the map with leader lines. In order to create a balance, I chose to stylize and customize some labels, so that some stand out. I chose to customize my map as follows:

1. Customized labels. I customized the water labels by making them italic and blue to mimic the flow and feel of water. I shrank some of these labels to fit with in the space they were mean to labels. I also chose to make the City labels larger and a slightly different color so they would be distinguishable from the Key Labels.
2. Themed point symbols. I used the standard AI city label, airport label, and state park labels and chose a house to represent the country club. I wanted these points of interest to stand out on the map. In addition, because there was only one of each symbol, I chose not to label them on the map, but to label them in the legend instead to avoid overcrowding the map with labels.
3. Drop shadow on the island. I used a slight drop shadow for the island in order to make it stand out and draw attention to the main part of the map. I had to balance this effect with the water feature labels so the labels would still be readable.

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