GIS 5007 - Cartographic Design

This week's focus was land partitioning systems and cartographic design. Land partitioning systems can be broken into two categories, systematic and unsystematic. We were given a historic perspective of  both types of systems in the US and how they impact systems that are used today. The land partitioning systems were introduced to included Metes and Bounds, Long Lots, Spanish Land Grants, State Land Surveys, and the US Public Land Survey which is the most widely used land partitioning system in the USA today.  

The cartographic design lesson introduced the 7 step map design process and elements required to produce a well designed map. To produce a well designed map, along with following the 7 step design process a cartographer has to be mindful of certain principles. Gestalt's design principles, inclusive of visual hierarchy, figure-ground relationship, contrast and balance, are all important. 

Map of Ward 7 Public Schools

Once we learned of the cartographic design principles, we were asked to create a map of Public Schools in Ward 7, Washington, DC (see above map). This map making process allowed us to put the design process and principles we learned to use. Using ArcGIS Pro, I added the provided data, assessed what was provided and then began my design process. This included deciding on a scale, determining how I wanted the data to be displayed, adding and manipulating the various map elements, constructing the map and evaluating it (several times). This particular assignment allowed me to explore customization options in ArcGIS Pro and, as a result, probably took me longer than it should have because there were so many options to take in. 

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