GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design

There have been many cartography books published over the years that seem to cover the same information with an out of date feel.  Like a breath of fresh air, a new cartography book has enter the mix.  GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design written by Gretchen N. Peterson has been recently made available.

The first thing that stood out to me was the openness and personable presentation of the author in the introduction.  As I read through this book I did not see it as a textbook, but I saw it as if I was sitting across the table from Gretchen discussing keys to GIS cartography.  She presents each area in a detailed manor as one speaking from experience.

I liked how the book did not focus on a single software package, but provides ideas that could be applied across the board.  The examples and topics are presented in a more up to date application.  This allows for the incorporation of new media like PowerPoint slides and web maps.  Although this book was written with the early career professional in mind, it has a lot of good stuff for everyone no matter the career level.

A few areas that really stood out to me included the challenge of learning to be creative with map design.  Observing art and other non map designs help stimulate the creative juices.  There is also an excellent detailed layout design checklist.  Each element is discussed extensively throughout the chapter.  Another helpful area was map fonts.  Learning when to use certain fonts, understanding map viewing distance and its correlation to the font size, and understanding the importance of text direction are some of the topics discussed in the font chapter.

Color is also analyzed and starts at the beginning with the color theory as defined by Sir Isaac Newton.  The author presents valuable information on these various color models:

• RGB
• Hexadecimal
• HSV
• HSL
• CMYK
• CIELAB

In addition to the color models, the author discusses figure ground, choropleth mapping, color connotation, blending, and readability.  One of the largest sections is on cartographic representation of features.  This chapter was very useful as it contains an enormous amount of information that includes specific features and the techniques on how to enhance each one.  Some of these features includes:

• Roads
• Rivers and Streams
• Cities & Towns
• Political Boundaries
• Elevation / Hillshade
• Wind
• Temperature
• Land Use / Land Cover
• Utilities
• Soils

Beyond the chapter content, the appendix is filled with invaluable resources such as layout sketches, map examples, and color swatches.

The book is a great read from front to back; however, you can pick and choose to read the chapters you want.  I highly recommend this book for its reading ease, valuable information, and current applicable techniques.

Check it out: GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design

About the Author (from http://petersongis.com):

Gretchen holds a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and is a GISP. She is the author of GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design. She is a member of the GISCI Application Review Committee.

Gretchen has been conducting GIS analysis and development in the Pacific Northwest for over 9 years. Prior to founding PetersonGIS, Gretchen was a GIS analyst for a private consulting firm where she designed the GIS salmonid refugia model for Kitsap and Jefferson Counties in Washington State. Before moving to Washington State, she conducted research in the field on the Common Tern in Oneida Lake, New York and worked as a GIS data specialist at the New York Water Resources Institute.