Module 4: Cartographic Design

The purpose of this lab was to use the cartographic design process to create a map of the Public Schools in Ward 7, Washington, D.C. and employed Gestalt's principles of visual hierarchy, contrast,  figure-ground, and balance. I created my map in ArcGIS Pro and explored the symbology, labeling and layout options to achieve a final balanced product.
Visual hierarchy and Contrast are often used together. Visual hierarchy is when symbols and their map elements are ranked according to their relative importance, while Contrast is the visual difference between map features so that the features can be distinguished from one another. For this map, the most important features are the schools and Ward 7 area with the least important being some of the essential map elements: north arrow, scale bar, and author/sources. I implemented visual hierarchy by using color to create Contrast between map elements. I made the Ward 7 district a brighter color than the surrounding D.C. Area to draw attention to that area. I also varied the colors and size of the school symbols within the orange color range to distinguish between the school types. I deemphasized the other essential map elements and made the north arrow, scale bar, author and data source information by making them a duller color.  In addition, I varied the size of the fonts on the map, making the main title largest for emphasis, while deemphasizing the other less important data.

Figure-ground is when certain objects are enhanced to make them appear closer. I established figure-ground in two ways. First, I made the Ward 7 area a brighter color which draws that area out from the darker D.C. area. Second, I created a drop shadow around the map. To create the drop shadow, I applied an offset gradient effect to the DC Area feature layer and adjusted the offset values until I achieved the desired effect.  

Balance is the overall organization of all the map elements on the page that results in visual harmony. I incorporated balance by placing the map elements on the page in a logical way. I put the title and subtitle at the top of the page, drawing the audience’s attention to it. Directly under the title and to the left, I put the inset map and then placed the area of interest – Ward 7 schools – in the center of the map. I did this because we read left to right and it made logical sense to have the larger area lead to the smaller area. I placed the legend on the right side at the top of the map since the main focus of the map is the schools. Because the audience of this map is most likely a parent wanting to know the closest type of school, I utilized the rest of the white space by creating a list of the school names and placing it in the lower right corner. Finally, I placed the north arrow, scale bar and author/sources information in the lower left to balance out the map (placing it next to the list or the top of the page looked crowded). 

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