Welcome to Geog 486! In this lesson, we will talk about the basics of map design, including how to customize your map to fit a specific audience, medium, and purpose. We will also introduce some topics that we will cover more in-depth later in the course, including visual variables, scale, and online map distribution. For this week’s lab activity, we will be making general-purpose basemaps in ArcGIS Pro. For those of you that haven’t used ArcGIS Pro before, this will be a good introduction to the software, and for all it will provide an opportunity to start thinking more deeply about the principles of cartographic design.

Throughout the lesson content, you will notice Student Reflection prompts. These prompts are opportunities for you to pause and reflect on what you have learned and how it relates to previous course content or your own personal or professional experience. Though not required, you are welcome to post responses to these prompts in the lesson discussion forum. You should post something to the lesson discussion each week, but you may choose to post a question/answer or comment about the lab instead.

Now, let's begin Lesson 1.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• recognize suitable pre-designed basemaps for mapping tasks;
• utilize publicly-available data to create and customize general-purpose maps;
• design GIS overlay data to adequately display over pre-existing basemap content;
• incorporate knowledge of a map’s intended audience, medium, and purpose into design decisions;
• create an online portfolio for compiling and sharing map designs.

Lesson Roadmap

Questions?

If you have questions, please feel free to post them to the Lesson 1 Discussion forum. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help a classmate.

When making a map, it is impossible to map everything. In fact, to be a useful model of our world and of any phenomena in it, maps must always obscure, simplify, and/or embellish reality. These actions—which make maps useful—also make their construction subjective. Cartographic design, even when informed by well-established conventions, is an art as much as a science. Every design choice a cartographer makes ultimately influences the map readers’ comprehension, appreciation—and even trust—of the map that he or she creates.

Though maps may include or be supplemented by text or other media (even by sound, smell, or touch), map creation at its core is about visual design. As such, cartographers often talk of graphicacy and its importance in facilitating visual communication with maps (e.g., Field 2018, pg. 194). Graphicacy was first defined by Balchin and Coleman (1966) as “the intellectual skill necessary for the communication of relationships which cannot be successfully communicated by words or mathematical notation alone.” Graphicacy—like literacy—has its own grammar and syntax, and learning the rules of graphic language is essential for designing effective maps (Field 2018, pg. 194).

Student Reflection

Which map of the two below best communicates the trend of the data? Why?

Figure 1.1.1 Two Choropleth Maps, with multi-hued categorical (left), and single-hue sequential (right) color schemes.

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: US Census, American Community Survey.

In the map on the left (Figure 1.1.1), the rainbow color scheme makes it easy to view the states as grouped into categories by hue, but the lack of an obvious order between the selected colors makes the overall trend unclear. A sequential color scheme (right), however, makes it easy to view the trend of the data, as low-to-high values as are encoded intuitively from light to dark.

The design decisions that go into making a map often go far beyond choosing a color scheme for a simple state-by-state choropleth map. The map below is a Russian Civil War map – flames and smoke are used as symbols of the Bolshevik uprising. This map not only communicates information; it conveys emotion.

Figure 1.1.2 Pobeda Oktiabria I ego mirovoe znachenie. Map by A. N. de-Lazari, A. N. Lesevitskii, and S. Starov.

Credit: Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.

As demonstrated by the examples above, the way in which you design a map can deeply influence how your readers interpret it. A well-designed map can intrigue and even surprise its readers, leaving a meaningful and memorable impression. Shown below is a map of projected future storm surge in New York City, designed by Penn State alum and cartographer Carolyn Fish. The map doesn't ask the reader to imagine what NYC might look like under future climate scenarios - it shows them.

Figure 1.1.3 A map of predicted storm surge in NYC.

Credit: Carolyn Fish. Permission granted by Dr. Carolyn Fish.

Following cartographic conventions—such as applying sequential color schemes for sequential data—typically results in more effective maps. However, some maps diverge from these guidelines. Learning cartographic best practices will help you to both apply them—and thoughtfully disobey them—when prudent.

Student Reflection

View the maps in Figures 1.1.4 through 1.1.7 below: Do you think they are effective? Is there anything you think should have been done differently?

Figure 1.1.4 A Soil Map from Morogora, Tanzania, 1975

Credit: European Commission: Joint Research Centre - European Soil Data Centre (c) European Union, 1995-2018. Reuse is authorized, provided the source is acknowledged. The Commission's reuse policy is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011 - reuse of Commission documents.

Figure 1.1.5 An annual precipitation map from the National Weather Service

Credit: NOAA

Figure 1.1.6 A Land Cover and Ecosystem Map of Northern Alaska

Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC)

Figure 1.1.7 A zoning map from Fairfax, Virginia

Credit: City of Fairfax, Virginia

Maps are generally classified into one of three categories: (1) general purpose, (2) thematic, and (3) cartometric maps.

General Purpose Maps

General Purpose Maps are often also called basemaps or reference maps. They display natural and man-made features of general interest, and are intended for widespread public use (Dent, Torguson, and Hodler 2009).

Figure 1.2.1 OpenStreetMap Basemap.

Credit: OpenStreetMap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The data is available under the Open Database License (CC BY-SA).

Thematic Maps

Thematic Maps are sometimes also called special purpose, single topic, or statistical maps. They highlight features, data, or concepts, and these data may be qualitative, quantitative, or both. Thematic maps can be further divided into two main categories: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative thematic maps show the spatial extent of categorical, or nominal, data (e.g., soil type, land cover, political districts). Quantitative thematic maps, conversely, demonstrate the spatial patterns of numerical data (e.g., income, age, population).

Figure 1.2.2 A Thematic Map from the US Census Bureau

Credit: Census.gov

Cartometric Maps

Cartometric Maps are a more specialized type of map and are designed for making accurate measurements. Cartometrics, or cartometric analysis, refers to mathematical operations such as counting, measuring, and estimating—thus, cartometric maps are maps which are optimized for these purposes (Muehrcke, Muehrcke, and Kimerling 2001). Examples include aeronautical and nautical navigational charts—used for routing over land or sea—and USGS topographic maps, which are often used for tasks requiring accurate distance calculations, such as surveying, hiking, and resource management.

Figure 1.2.3 A Nautical Chart from NOAA

Credit: NOAA (click the link for a larger image!)

In theory, these map categories are distinct, and it can be helpful to understand them as such. However, few maps fit cleanly into one of these categories—most maps in the real world are really hybrid general purpose/thematic maps. 

Figure 1.2.4 A hybrid map of fire hazard severity zones from Orange County, CA

Credit: Cal Fire from CA.gov

Advancements in technology and in the availability of data have resulted in the proliferation of many diverse types of maps. Some, as shown in Figure 1.2.5, are embedded into exploratory tools intended to inform researchers and policy-makers.

Figure 1.2.5 A Screenshot of the Geovisual Analytic tool MapSieve.

Credit: Robinson, Anthony C., and Sterling D. Quinn. 2018. "A Brute Force Method for Spatially-Enhanced Multivariate Facet Analysis." Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 69 (June 2017). Elsevier: 28-38. 
Reproduced with permission from Dr. Anthony Robinson, Penn State University.

Other maps are intended for a wider audience but share the goal of uncovering and visualizing interesting relationships in spatial data (Figure 1.2.6).

Figure 1.2.6 Places to see both bigfoot and the solar eclipse

Credit: Sightings map by Joshua Stevens (JoshuaStevens.net)

Maps also are not limited to depicting outdoor landscapes. Some maps, such as the one in Figure 1.2.7, are designed to help people navigate complicated indoor spaces, such as malls, airports, hotels, and hospitals.

Figure 1.2.7 Indoor map of the Washington DC Marriott from the 2017 International Cartographic Conference

Credit: Cary Anderson and Cindy Brewer. In-hotel walk throughs and detailed floor plans at www.marriott.com.

For a map to be useful, it is not always necessary that they realistically portray the geography they represent. This map of the public transit system in Boston, MA (Figure 1.2.8) drastically simplifies the geography of the area to create a map that is more useful for travelers than it would be if it were entirely spatially accurate.

Figure 1.2.8 A Public Transportation Map from Boston, M.A.

Credit: Boston MBTA

Maps that show general spatial relationships but not geography are often called diagrammatic maps, or spatializations. Spatializations are often significantly more abstract than public transit maps; the term refers to any visualization in which abstract information is converted into a visual-spatial framework (Slocum et al 2009).

Figure 1.2.9 A spatialization by Andris et al., (2015) that demonstrates the increasing polarization between members of the US House of Representatives. Each dot represents a member of a congress (blue for democrat, red for republican); connections represent vote-based agreement above a threshold determined by the authors. For more details, see (Andris et al. 2015).

Credit: Andris, Clio, David Lee, Marcus J. Hamilton, Mauro Martino, Christian E. Gunning, and John Armistead Selden. 2015. “The Rise of Partisanship and Super-Cooperators in the U.S. House of Representatives.” PLoS ONE 10 (4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123507. Available under the Open Database License (CC BY-SA).

Though there are many different types of maps, they share the goal of demonstrating complex spatial information in a clear and useful way. Rather than attempt to place maps into discrete categories, it is generally more productive to see them as individual entities designed to suit a particular audience, medium, and purpose. We will discuss this more in the next section.

Though you won’t need to understand the biology of the human brain and visual system, making great maps requires understanding how people perceive visual information. When discussing how people interpret maps, we can frame this discussion in terms of perception, cognition, and behavior.

Perception in map design refers to the reader’s immediate response to map symbology (e.g., instant recognition that symbols are different hues) (Slocum et al. 2009).

Cognition occurs when map readers incorporate that perception into conscious thought, and thus combine it with their own knowledge (Slocum et al. 2009). For example, readers might be able to interpret a weather radar map without its legend due to their previous experience with a similar map, or might incorporate knowledge of a map’s topic into their interpretation of a visual data distribution (e.g., the higher concentration of people aged 65+ shown in some Florida cities makes sense given what I know about retirement communities).

Behavior refers to actions that go beyond just thinking about maps. Considering how design may influence behavior is essential in anticipating the real-world effects your maps may have. The way a map is designed can influence its readers’ actions and decision-making, and these decisions may range from small (e.g., for how many seconds will the reader look at this map?) to great (e.g., will this flood-risk map convince the reader to purchase insurance?).

Figure 1.3.1 From perception to cognition and behavior

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State Geography

Another useful way to think about map communication is with the cartography-cubed model (MacEachren 1994). The model MacEachren (1994) proposed focuses on how different maps and visualizations are used. Within this framework, any map can be located within the cube by determining its location along three dimensions: (1) from public to private (with regards to the map audience), (2) from presenting knowns to revealing unknowns (e.g., is the map for displaying known information or for exploration?), and (3) from low to high interaction (e.g., a static map vs. an exploratory interactive mapping tool).

Figure 1.3.2 (Cartography)³

Credit: MacEachren and Taylor, 1994

These dimensions are often correlated, hence the shown corner-to-corner continuum from visualization to communication. A printed map in a magazine article, for example, we could classify as a tool for communication, while an exploratory mapping tool designed for epidemiologists would be better described as (geo)visualization.

Before you Map: Audience, Medium, and Purpose 

There is no inherently good map—only a map that is well-designed and properly suited to its audience, medium, and purpose. Before creating a map, you should ask yourself (and if possible, your clients) several questions (Brewer 2015).

Audience—who is going to use this map?

• Will your map readers be novices or experts? Do they have advanced knowledge related to the data you intend to map? You would create, for example, a different map of crime hotspots for criminologists than for the public.
• Are your intended map readers knowledgeable about the area to be mapped? Those unfamiliar with a location might need more detail to understand its geographic context.
• How much time will a typical reader spend with your map? Some audiences will be happy to explore and analyze your map, while others may hope to understand the message of your map at a glance.
• Is your map accessible? Consider how colorblindness or other visual impairments might affect your readers’ interpretation of your map.

Figure 1.4.1 Two similar maps of city water utilities appropriate for different audiences. The map on the left includes additional symbols that are useful only to experts. The map on the right would be more suitable for a busy audience, or non-experts.

Credit: BeavertonOregon.gov

Medium—how will this map be displayed?

• Maps are viewed in a vast number of formats—in desktop browsers, on mobile phone screens, in brightly-lit rooms on large-screen projectors, as well as printed in magazines, brochures, newspapers, posters, etc.
• In addition to the broad media category (e.g., mobile phone browser vs. poster), predict the specifics of your map's final viewing format as much as possible—details such as the map’s size on a webpage or a reader’s viewing distance from a poster can make a big difference in both a map's utility and aesthetics.
• If your map will be viewed in multiple media formats, you will likely have to create multiple versions of your map, each optimized for its respective display medium.

Figure 1.4.2 Three maps of the same data suited to different display mediums. (Left) This map is detailed and suitable for high-quality display media. (Middle) This map is simplified for lower-quality displays or when viewed from farther away. (Right) This map—rather than just being a black-and-white copy of another map—has been optimized for greyscale reproduction.

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University; boundary data source US Census, thematic data invented.

Purpose—what is the intended function of your map?

• Maps are used for many purposes (e.g., for navigation, for understanding spatial trends in data, for site selection, for communicating the results of a research project, etc.) Different purposes necessitate different maps.
• When making design decisions, consider how they will influence the success of your users in completing their expected map-use tasks. Maps for driving navigation, for example, are generally more useful when detailed terrain data is excluded, creating a simpler interface. In a hiking map, however, such information is essential.
• Considering in what scenarios a map will be used is also important—users of maps for emergency response, for example, will likely be stressed and working under inflexible time constraints.

Figure 1.4.3 Two maps of trains designed for different purposes. The top map is specifically designed to be used in a train control center. The bottom map is designed for transit passengers - it is much simpler and only describes what passengers need to know. Note that while these maps do not depict the same location, they demonstrate how different symbol designs are more or less appropriate for different map use tasks.

Credit: Australian Government Transport Safety Bureau; Seattle.gov.

In this course and beyond, you will make many different kinds of maps. Some will be advertisements, some will be scientific documents - some may be just for fun. No matter the mapping project or process you use, pausing to reflect upon the who, what, and why of your map will always lead to better results.

Figure 1.4.4 Considering the who, what, and why of a mapping project.

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University.

Basemaps are essential – they provide the context for your map data. Selecting a basemap should never be just an afterthought, and though the final choice is always subjective, you can make a better decision by considering your map purpose, audience, and the nature of your overlay data.

Street Maps

Often the default basemap used in business web-mapping applications. Helpful when highly-detailed locational context is necessary (particularly for navigation). Though pre-designed street basemaps may not have the ideal aesthetic for overlaying complex data, they are particularly useful at large scales (at which they appear less visually cluttered) or when overlaying relatively simple social data (e.g., for a map showing all locations of a restaurant chain).

Figure 1.5.1 The OpenStreetMap basemap

Credit: OpenStreetMap © OpenStreetMap contributors. The data is available under the Open Database License (CC BY-SA).

Satellite Imagery

Often useful for environmental or engineering applications. May be useful in rural areas that cannot be well-understood using street maps (as few streets exist). The colors and detail make overlay data much more challenging to design than over subtle basemaps – satellite basemaps work best when GIS data is structured and simple and understanding the physical structure of the landscape is essential to the mapping function (e.g., for a map of local water pipelines).

Figure 1.5.2 An imagery basemap

Credit: Screen capture from ArcGIS Pro

Greyscale Basemaps

Usually reserved for thematic mapping, greyscale basemaps are helpful when the intended audience already knows the location context, or when significant detail is not important to fulfill the map’s purpose. The simple backdrop adds visual emphasis to your overlay data – especially important for maps produced for entertainment or maps whose primary focus is statistical data (e.g., statistical mortality maps). Choose a light or dark background based on the content and mood of your map, and design overlay data accordingly.

Figure 1.5.3 Light gray (left) and dark gray (right) canvas basemaps

Credit: Screen capture from ArcGIS Pro

Terrain Basemaps

Terrain basemaps are particularly useful when the terrain of the landscape has an important relationship with the data being mapped (e.g., mapping wildfires; hiking maps). Shaded relief also adds visual interest and, when done well, creates a beautiful map. Just be sure to not let the basemap content overwhelm your own data.

Figure 1.5.4 A labeled terrain basemap

Credit: Screen capture from ArcGIS Pro

A comparison of several example basemaps at the same location in Chicago are shown below in Figure 1.5.5. As shown, different basemaps can have vastly different overall looks, as well as differing levels of detail (LOD).

Figure 1.5.5 A comparative view of several basemaps available in ArcGIS Pro: Open Street Map (left), Light Grey Canvas (middle), and Imagery with labels (right)

Credit: Screen capture from ArcGIS Pro

When making a map, your basemap sets the tone - everything else builds from this important beginning.

Though many pre-designed options exist, and can be selected as described above, the best reference map for a specific task is often the one you make yourself. When downloading base data for a map, you should consider the following data layers, of which you might need a few or many. This is not an exhaustive list of available base data content, but will help you start thinking about the kinds of data you may need.

Terrain data

A good basemap will often include data that shows the shape of the physical landscape. All terrain layers are typically derived from a digital elevation model (DEM), which is a grid-based (raster) data layer that contains elevation layers.

Elevation can be mapped in several different ways; a common method is hypsometric tinting (hypso) or coloring based on elevation values, shown in Figure 1.6.1.

Figure 1.6.1 Hypsometric tints

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: The National Map

Contour lines are often used to show more detail about the shape of the landscape, either alone or combined with hypsometric tinting, as shown below.

Figure 1.6.2 Contour lines (left), Contour lines with hypso (right)

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: The National Map

Other layers such as hillshade and curvature are often added for additional visual detail.

Figure 1.6.3 Hillshade (left), Curvature (middle), Hillshade with curvature and hypso (right)

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: The National Map

Orthoimages, or images of the earth’s surface that have been properly transformed for mapping purposes, can also be used alone or combined with terrain layers. We'll talk more about terrain visualization later in the course.

Figure 1.6.4 An aerial image from California (left), an aerial image with a transparent hillshade from a similar location (right)

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: The National Map

Cultural Data

Political boundaries are often important components of basemap design. Commonly-mapped boundaries include international borders, state or province boundaries, incorporated places, smaller census units such as tracts and blocks, and boundaries of Native American reservations, among others. Place names are used to add additional locational context.

Figure 1.6.5 Counties and incorporated places (left) and place names (right) near Baton Rouge, LA

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: The National Map

Additional Data

Other layers that can be useful as base data include zoning and land use data. These data are often available in vector form from local GIS organizations. Land cover and impervious surface data, among other layers, are available in raster form from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD).

Figure 1.6.6 A map of zoning data from Chicago, IL

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: City of Chicago

Figure 1.6.7 Maps of Land Cover (left), and Percent Impervious Surface (right), both from the National Land Cover Database.

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: The National Map

Hydrography can also play an important role in a basemap. Data used may include streams, rivers, lakes, swamps, marshes, and wetlands, among other water features.

Figure 1.6.8 Flowlines and waterbodies from the National Hydrography Dataset (left), and this hydrography data combined with terrain (right)

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University, Data Source: The National Map

Given the vast amount of data available, it is important to think carefully about the base data necessary for map’s audience, medium, and purpose—and design accordingly.

When designing your maps, two ideas should be at the forefront of your symbol design process: (1) order, and (2) category. Map symbol design relies heavily on the proper use of visual variables—graphic marks that are used to symbolize data (White, 2017).

Cartographer Jacques Bertin (1967) was the first to present this system of encoding data via graphic elements. Suggestions of supplemental visual variables (e.g., transparency), as well as analyses of their utility in different cartographic contexts, have been brought forth by multiple well-known cartographers (e.g., MacEachren 1994).

Figure 1.7.1 An illustration of Bertin’s Visual Variables by Axis Maps

Credit: Adapted from Visual Variables, Axis Maps. Available under the Open Database License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Some visual variables (e.g., size, color saturation, and color lightness) clearly indicate quantitative changes in magnitude. These are best for encoding data that has an order (e.g., a county-level map of population density; a road map with both highways and local roads). Other visual variables (e.g., color hue, pattern, and shape) signify qualitative—but not quantitative—differences. These are best applied when data categories have no inherent ordering (also often called nominal, or qualitative data), such as in a choropleth map showing political boundaries.

Figures 1.7.2, 1.7.3, and 1.7.4 demonstrate how visual variables can be used to symbolize common features in general purpose maps. These variables can be used either independently or in combination, to create the best visual representation of the underlying data.

Figure 1.7.2 Visual order of road features using size (left), and size and value (right)

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University.

Figure 1.7.3 Categories of waterbody features using pattern (left), and pattern and hue (right)

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University.

Figure 1.7.4 Combined visual order and category of roads using size and pattern

Credit: Cary Anderson, Penn State University.

Edward Tufte, a statistician and data visualization expert, said “the commonality between science and art is in trying to see profoundly—to develop strategies of seeing and showing” (Zachry and Thralls 2004, pg. 450). The goal of cartography, both an art and a science, is to optimally visualize—and help others see—the world, and various phenomena within it. To do so takes patience, practice, and skill—all of which you will continually develop throughout this course.

Another important decision you will have to make when mapping is at what scale your map should be designed. When designing your symbols, you should always take scale into consideration. Generally, large-scale (zoomed-in) maps should include more features, such as local roads and points of interest, while small-scale maps should be simpler, to avoid visual clutter.

Figure 1.8.1 OpenStreepMap basemap showing Denver, CO through scale

Credit: OpenStreetMap © OpenStreetMap contributors. The data is available under the Open Database License (CC BY-SA).

Web-based basemaps, such as the one shown in Figure 1.8.1, are often designed to adjust the level of detail automatically, as the user adjusts the map’s scale. If you are mapping your own data over a web map, however, you will still need to make decisions about the level of detail you include at each scale, as well as the sizes and styles of your symbol designs.

Particularly given the rise of web-based mapping, maps are readily shared across the web – occasionally even going viral. Many blogs and websites are host to many maps, though the most efficient way to share maps with many users is through social media. Social media platforms like Twitter are an easy way to share both interactive and static maps, as well as links to external sites that permit more than a 140-character explanation of your work.

Figure 1.9.1 A post about Dr. Anthony Robinson's research on viral mapping, posted on twitter

Credit: Penn State Geography @psugeography.
Not following anyone on twitter yet? @psugeography and @PennStateGIS are good places to start!

Maps can serve many purposes – from communicating ideas to exploring data to generate new insights. For any purpose, however, maps must be read and used. Social media has its faults, but it is an excellent way to get design inspiration and to share your own work.

During this course, we will be completing some peer critiques. However, for your first map critique, you will be critiquing a map made not by one of your peers, but by an external source. As noted by cartographer Kenneth Field (2018), the ability to thoughtfully reflect on the design of a map is an important skill. It will improve both your own map-making abilities, and your ability to comprehend the maps of others.

To complete this assignment, you should write-up a 500 word (max) critique of one of the following maps:

Map #1: Where to Live to Avoid a Natural Disaster - NY Times
Map #2: Monsters of the Mekong - National Geographic
Map #3: Grand Canyon Panorama - National Parks Service

In your written critique please describe:

• three things about the map design that you think the map does very well;
• three suggestions you have for improvement to the map design.

As suggested by the prompts above, map critique is not just about finding problems, but about reflecting on a map overall. Your critique should focus on things the map does well as much as it does on suggestions for improvement. In your discussion, you should connect your ideas back to what we have learned in Lesson One. You are also welcome - but not required - to relate the map to a personal or professional project or experience.

Please list the title of the map you have chosen at the top of the page.

Grading Criteria

Registered students can view a rubric for this assignment in Canvas.

Introduction to Map Design

This week, we'll be making two (2) general-purpose 8.5" x 11" maps. In addition to being an introduction to map-making in ArcGIS Pro, this lab brings together a variety of concepts discussed in this lesson. When making these maps, you'll need to consider

• scale
• visual variables
• map symbols
• audience, medium, and purpose.

All the requirements for this lab are listed below: you should reference this page as you work, and before you submit your final maps.

Lab Objectives

• Create two (2) general-purpose maps by designing line and area features in ArcGIS Pro.
• Explore multi-scale map design by designing symbols for maps at two different scales.
• Minimize reliance on the use of color as a visual variable by designing at least one (1) map using only a greyscale.

Overall Lab Requirements

For Lab 1, you will create two (2) general-purpose maps in ArcGIS Pro.

• Choose an area (likely a city) in Louisiana with a wide variety of map features—you must include the required number of map features for each map, so avoid selecting a remote rural location. The two maps you create should show the same approximate location but at different scales.
• Demonstrate map feature category and order by symbolizing the data provided:
  • Design to emphasize a visual difference in category (e.g., roads, counties, cities, flowlines, waterbodies). Symbol design should denote the categorical difference between features when appropriate.
  • Design to emphasize visual importance (i.e., order) of features (e.g., local road, secondary road, interstate). Within a category, symbols should be similar but show order.
• Use multi-layer line and area symbols, and design features appropriately for each map scale.
• IMPORTANT: Do not include any labels of any kind (not even your name), and no map elements (north arrow, scale bar, etc.) on your map—we will work on map labeling and layout design with the map elements in later labs.

Individual Map Requirements

Map One

• Scale: 1:24,000
• Must not include any color—design in greyscale only.
• Must include the following features:
  • at least three types of transportation features (e.g., interstate, local roads, rails, trails, etc.)
  • at least three types of waterbodies (e.g., lake or pond, reservoir, etc.)
  • at least one type of flowline (e.g., streams, artificial paths, etc.)
  • at least one political boundary feature
• For the purpose of this lab, features are considered different if defined differently in the data (e.g., local and collector roads have different TNMFRC codes; lakes and reservoirs have different FTypes).
• Produce the map at 8.5" x 11"
• Include a short statement (no more than 100 words) that explains the imagined purpose and audience for a map (yes, be imaginative here). Also, be sure to explain the intended visual order of importance to the map features that you included and symbolized on the map and how that order was achieved.

Map Two

• Scale: 1:100,000
• Must include some or all color.
• Must include the following features:
  • at least four types of transportation features (e.g., interstate, local roads, rails, trails, etc.)
  • at least two types of waterbodies (e.g., lake or pond, reservoir, etc.)
  • at least two types of flowlines (e.g., streams, artificial paths, etc.)
  • at least two political boundary features (e.g., parish and city limits)
• Produce the map at 8.5" x 11"
• For the purpose of this lab, features are considered different if defined differently in the data (e.g., local and collector roads have different TNMFRC codes; lakes and reservoirs have different FTypes).
• Include a short statement (no more than 100 words) that explains the imagined purpose and audience for a map (yes, be imaginative here). Also, be sure to explain the intended visual order of importance to the map features that you included and symbolized on the map and how that order was achieved.

Lab Instructions

1. Download the Lab 1 zipped file (575 MB). This is a very large file. It contains:
   • a project (.aprx) file to be opened in ArcGIS Pro
   • database with all required data. The data source for this lesson is The National Map. Note: The .aprx file will contain all required data loaded and organized. The goal of this lab is to focus on symbol design without worrying about any data downloading, data cleaning, or database organizing tasks.
2. Extract the zipped folder, and double-click the blue (.aprx) file to open ArcGIS Pro.
   • Once the file is open, you're ready to go! There are few ordered steps to complete this lab - map design is not a linear process - but following along with the visual guide will put you on the right path.
   • Note: this is a big file and can take a long time to render. As a suggestion, once you have decided on an area of interest for your map, you can (and probably should) delete the rest of the map features.

Grading Criteria

Registered students can view a rubric for this assignment in Canvas.

Ready to Begin?

More instructions are provided in Lesson 1 Lab Visual Guide.

Summary

Now that you’ve finished this lesson, you should have a solid understanding of the importance of visual design, and the many factors that must be considered when making a map. During this lesson, we discussed the importance of considering a map’s audience, medium, and purpose – three vital factors to consider when planning a map.

We also introduced the idea of symbol design, and how to leverage order and category of visual variables to create a more informative map. At the end of the lesson, we touched on issues of scale and map-sharing, which we explore in more depth later this semester. In this lesson’s lab, we began applying this knowledge by building general-purpose maps using ArcGIS Pro and a popular source of open-source geospatial data: The National Map.

Reminder - Complete all of the Lesson 1 tasks!

You have reached the end of Lesson 1! Double-check the to-do list on the Lesson 1 Overview page to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before you begin Lesson 2.