GIS 5007L - Module 3: Typography

Hello Everyone!

This week was a rather fun but challenging assignment for me in my Cartography class. For my lab, I was assigned to create a Typography Map! Typography can be described as designing, changing the arrangement of and distinguishing a specific type. A type can consist of anything from a symbol to an individual map element. For this assignment, I was tasked with creating a map that showcased Marathon, Florida. Marathon is a part of the Florida Keys and consists of several Keys to make a larger land feature. For this map, I had to show Marathon as my study area/area of interest. Below you can find the map I created (the image can be clicked to enlarge):

As you can see, this map shows the highlighted area of interest: Marathon, Florida. In the bottom right-hand corner I created a reference map to show the general area of Florida that I am working with (highlighted in purple). To create this map, I used Adobe Illustrator. Within the program, I created the map frame and inset frame to show the two geographic features. Once the geographic features had been added, I labeled the individual keys by using what we call leader lines.

In order to make the map features more easily distinguishable, I added a few custom touches. First, I added a drop shadow to the island of Marathon. I did this to help it pop out from the map and give it some highlight to the map viewer. Second, I used italics to label my water features as well as the blue text color. I did this so that the water features would stand out, making sure that the blue was darker than the Florida Bay background. I made sure to change the size of text used when labeling cities and Keys in order to give them a better visual distinction. Finally, I used custom symbols to help distinguish specific features. These features are visible in the legend. I did this primarily to avoid map feature clutter as well as highlight the features I thought to be important on the map.

Typography in a map may seem like an item of small importance, but it serves its own purpose. The attention to typography details can ultimately make or break a map and give it the look that it needs to not only catch the eye in a specific way but also distinguish itself from other maps. During this lab, I struggled at first. Adobe Illustrator is still a completely new and unknown program for me, but as I work with it, I am starting to see the graphical design and power that comes with it. I look forward to seeing where the continuance of the program takes me, and how I can continue to train my cartographic skills. I look forward to sharing my next chapter of work with you, and as always: ~Map On!