Cartographic Skills: Week 2 Lab Assignment

In this week's lab assignment, we had to use Adobe Illustrator to complete the finishing touches on our map of Florida. We learned how to use the basic tools in Adobe Illustrator to add and change some of the map elements on our maps. We also learned how to use scripts to help improve the function of Adobe Illustrator. Other features were added to the map, such as, the state's animal, bird and flower.

I first started out in ArcMap to insert the scale bar, legend, and the north arrow before I did any work in Illustrator. I had to make sure that the scale bar was set to scale with the rest of the map to be accurate. After exporting the map as AI file type, I moved to using Adobe Illustrator to finish the rest. I immediately started to add layers to my artboard to help me manipulate the map better. I added images of the state animal, bird and flower to my map. I sourced my images from the internet which I then copied and pasted onto the artboard in Illustrator. After pasting the images into Illustrator, I utilized the selection tool to resize and moved the images to fit the map appropriately. I utilized was the text tool which I used to label the map and to subtitled the images I had added. I selected the text tool and then I clicked on the area where I wanted the text to appear then typed in the labels for map. After typing in the labels, I used the selection tool again to help me resize and moved the text.

Intro to GIS: Week 2 Lab Assignment

In this week's lab assignment, we had to create our own map of University of West Florida's Main Campus in Escambia County, Florida. This map shows cities that are close to the UWF Main Campus, major rivers which flow around Escambia County, and interstate roads. During this assignment, we had to manipulate the different tools of the ArcMap software, such as, creating new data layers and taking out other data layers.

When I was designing this map in the ArcMap this week, I had quite a rough time with the data layers not overlapping one another. I tried  quite a few things to remedy this issue; however, nothing did not seemed to work for me. So, I started the whole map over from scratch which I encountered slightly different issues with the Escambia County data layer becoming way too small or too larger for the data frame. The fourth time around seemed to resolved the problem with the size format of Escambia County. After the size issue was resolved, the assignment moved smoothly.

Cartographic Skills - Module 1 Lab: Map Critique

In this week's Module, I learned about the history of cartography and the important principles when designing a map. I had to apply the knowledge that I learned to this week's lab assignment which was evaluating two different maps of my choice. One map being a well-designed example and the other being a poor-designed example. Here are the two maps which I selected for this assignment with the synopsis for each of them.

Well-designed Map:

The ‘South Carolina Wildlife Management Game Zones’ map was able to show what counties are a part of which game zone throughout the state of South Carolina. Each zone had a number and color assigned to it so people who are viewing the map will be able to see which counties fall under certain game zones. The map met the criteria of Tufteisms’ Commandment 1 in that the map was able to convey the data and information in design suitable for the viewer to understand quickly without having to work too hard on trying to interpret the meaning of the map. Also, the map met the criteria of Tufteisms’ Commandment 4. The map minimized the map crap which makes the reading of the map easier to view and understand in a short period of time without the clutter of redundant data and useless nonrelated data on the map. This map fits my aesthetic views due to the fact that that I was able to immediately understand the data that the map presents. Along with immediate comprehension of the map, I really liked how the data and the map elements were organized. The organization gives the map a professional feel to it which I would like to have my future maps to emulate. The third component of the map that I liked, there wasn’t a lot of map crap. The map gives you enough information without you having to read between the lines trying to decipher all the map crap. 

Poor-designed Map:

This map of what I assumed to be the location of hotels in Barcelona is poorly designed. When viewing this map, it feels very disorganize and cluttered which makes it difficult to interpret the data being presented on the map. It seems apparent that the mapmaker did not have any knowledge of the Map Design Principles when creating this map. The first Tufteism’s Commandment, either not know by map creator or not adhered to, was number one in not presenting the data in a well-designed format. All of the data that is present feels quite cluttered and the ideas of the map are very obscure which leads the viewer having to take a longer period of time to interpret the map. The second offense of the map creator was to break Tufteism’s Commandment 4. There is too much map crap present on the map. The mapmaker spelled out every hotel’s name in the area which overwhelms the viewer. The mapmaker could of assigned each hotel a number and then used the numbers in place of the written text on the map.  To improve this map, the first action to take is to extend the map extent to encompass all of the hotels that are mentioned inside the format so the map doesn’t feel so clutter. The next action is balancing out the page to help organize the map elements in a logical way. To do this one should put border around the city of Barcelona and zoom out slightly to give room to the map elements, such as scale bar, North Arrow, and other important elements in the blank space provided. The third action is to collect the data of the streets where the hotels are located. To collect the data, the mapmaker could use previous street data of Barcelona and overlap the graphics with their data to combine them.

Week 1 Lab Assignment

This week's lab was creating a World's Population by Countries in ArcGIS. The map shows population of world during 2008. The population is shown in a gradation of colors starting from blue being the lowest density of humans to red being the highest density of humans.

My experience with this lab was a little bit difficult at first when I was trying to find the ArcGISOverview.zip file in the eDesktop. I put on my Sherlock Holmes' thinking cap and was able to find the file and everything went smooth sailing from there on. I really enjoyed doing this lab because I'm learning so many new things that I didn't know about GIS software. 

Hi, everybody!

Hi, everybody. My name is Tara Scranton. I'm from Orlando, FL which I'm currently working as a server at a lovely breakfast restaurant. I have a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Humanities. I don't have a lot of experience with dealing with GIS which is why I am taking this GIS certificate program to help me have a better understanding of the technology and to help me pursue my dream working with archaeologists and museums.

This is my Story Map of places I like to visit on my down time. http://arcg.is/2iar0Ps

I hope we have a good semester/ year together,
Tara :)