Design Typography for Maps - Spring 2021 Begins!

 And we are back!

This semester, I am taking Communicating GIS at University of Florida, and as usual the first assignment does not break us in gradually. We completed multiple maps with the goal of practicing, and mastering, map typography. For this blog, I will be sharing a labeled map of San Francisco, California. Labels are always time consuming, and a somewhat weak point for me. This part of our assignment was actually enjoyable and useful - in fact the entire assignment was a collection of fun learning exercises. The only problem was time - what a problem to have while working carefully on typography!

The result paid off, I am happy with the legibility and visual hierarchy achieved in this map. I am sure there is plenty of room for improvement, but the symbology for my features is consistent, nothing is overlapping, and I even added a little shadow to the frame to add some contrast and figure-ground organization. I stuck with desaturated background-style hues, and added a narrow halo/shadow to text that needed a boost. The color presets are useful and I save common hues for this purpose, so that was a nice bonus.

The result:

This course was not planned for me this semester, but I am excited to be in it - the computer cartography element is one of my favorite aspects of GIS work. More to come!