Module 1: Map Design & Typography

For this week's lab, I explore symbology and typography to create effective maps. Creating effective maps means applying the 5 map design principles to improve map products. The 5 map design principles are visual contrast, legibility, figure-ground orientation, hierarchical organization and balance. For this lab, I created 5 maps, exploring different tools in applying the map principles. 

One of those maps I created is below. This is a map of some recreation sites in the City of Austin designed for a general audience with an interest in tourism to be published in a brochure or small poster. 

Map of recreation sites for the City of Austin.

I applied the 5 map design principles in this map so that they were complementary and resulted in a simple, easy to read basic map of recreation sites in and around the City of Austin. Below, I describe how I addressed each principle in the map.

1. Visual Contrast: This is how map features and elements contrast with each other and their background. I chose to make the County Boundary polygon clear so the background would be white, allowing the other data layers to stand out. I chose bright colors for the recreation sites so they would be visually prominent, and duller colors for roads so they would be distinguishable on the map but not as prominent.  
2. Legibility: This is the ability of a map to be easily read and understood. I choose colors for the recreation sites that could be easily seen. In addition, for the recreation centers, I chose a symbol that is familiar, a circle, and a size large enough so that all the sites could be seen without crowding. I also chose text size for the title and legend that would be large and easy to see and read.  
3. Figure-Ground Organization: This is the separation of the foreground figure from the background. The most prominent figure on this map was the county boundary. To separate the county from the background, I made the outline dark and thick, thus separating it from the base map.
4. Hierarchical Organization: This is layering information in the map to emphasize important features and identify patterns. To create a hierarchy on the map, I made the background white and chose bright colors to emphasize the data layers that were important – recreation sites, golf courses and hydrography. In addition, the recreation centers are bright circles which stand out as more important features on the map. To accentuate the area of interest, I chose a large, dark outline as the county boundary. In addition, I de-emphasized the roads by choosing a dark gray, thick line for the symbology which allows the roads to be identified but less important features on the map.
5. Balance: This involves the organization of the map and all other elements on the page. I created balance in the map by making the map the largest element on the page with the title large and centered above the map. I also made the legend large and placed it in the left corner of the page. The scale and north arrow are de-emphasized as smaller, transparent elements and placed in both lower corners of the map. The author, date, and sources are also de-emphasized as small text in the bottom right corner. Because there was additional empty white space on the map that looked out of balance, I chose to add a City of Austin logo. However, this area could be filled with additional information including center or golf course names etc., depending on publication type.