Portrayal and Cartography

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the state of the art in cartography, offers design guidelines as advice on how to maximize the effectiveness of the map as a communications medium, and illustrates how certain characteristics may be better displayed one way over another. Cartography is a huge subject; this chapter does not attempt to be a comprehensive course, nor a definitive text in the subject of cartography (of which there are a number of excellent examples cited in the references section). However, once you have read this chapter, you will find yourself better equipped to understand cartography and be more critically aware of how to represent your information effectively. It also invites you to learn more about cartography as a crucial part of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Firstly, the principles and practice of cartography are explored to provide a clear rationale for the importance of map design in communicating the results of geographical analysis. The chapter builds upon earlier detail of geometrical properties of the Earth, its measurement, and transformation from a three-dimensional object to a paper or screen map to show how the choice of map projection is crucial. The construction of maps as a reduced and abstract form of reality allows the consideration of some of the constraints on map design and the consequences for how maps are portrayed. Sections on typography and color illustrate the array of possibilities and choices available to the mapmaker and present some thoughts on effective map lettering and map coloring. A further section on map organization and layout gives advice on overall map page composition and considers the important components that make up a map. Finally, the design needs of Internet, web, and mobile mapping are considered.