Module 1: Map Design & Typography

     This week's lab focused on the 5 principles of cartographic design and the use of typography. We were tasked with creating several maps consistent with these design principles and utilizing various forms of typography and labels. The above image depicts one of the resulting maps from this exercise. The above general purpose reference map of San Francisco, California utilizes various font sizes, types, colors, and effects to efficiently communicate the data contained. Large and important features (San Francisco, Marin Peninsula, San Francisco Bay, etc.) are labeled with large font to indicate their size and importance, while the smaller and less significant features (parks, neighborhoods, Lake Erced, etc.) utilize smaller font sizes for their labels. Color was used to intuitively indicate the type of feature the label represents, in addition to distinguishing the various labels from each other and their surroundings. To aid in the contrast between labels and surroundings, some of the labels in the map were given halo or shadow effects. Various fonts were used to differentiate hydrographic labels from those of other features.

     Upon first glance, this lab seemed mundane and simple. As the I worked through the exercises, I realized that the assignments were complex and challenging. This was a pleasant surprise, resulting in my introduction to several new methods for organizing and labeling my maps. I look forward to implementing several of them in future productions.