Week two of Computer Cartography brings us to Module 1. In this module we had to find and evaluate maps that we believe to exhibit good and poor designs. The well designed maps we had to evaluate should also represent some style elements that we like and would likely use in our own cartographic projects. 

For an example of a well designed map I chose a map that shows the construction corridor and construction phases of a passenger rail project within an area in the eastern portion of Los Angeles County. The map source is from the City of La Verne's website. 

https://www.cityoflaverne.org/index.php/about-la-verne/transportation

The map I selected as a well-designed map is likely not the greatest example of a map that could be found as it is could improve in some areas however I believe it does a good job of conveying its intended message to the audience. The map I selected does a good job at satisfying the needs the following cartographic design principles. The map does place visual emphasis on important themes. The main subject of the map is the corridor of the proposed rail line along with the associated construction phasing. The railroad corridor is colored in contrasting colors that stand out well amongst the other map elements. The railroad corridor is also centered and described well on the page. The symbology of the map associated with qualitative data presented has been effectively applied. Map symbology is clear and concise while not being loud or annoying. The colors used in the map compliment the information being presented and do not distract the reader. Map symbols are intuitive and easy to decipher and have good explanations. The map symbols used in this map are clear easy to read and well documented. Symbols seem to follow a theme and yet are easily distinguishable from other each other on the map.

Overall, I find this map pleasing. I would likely change or remove the representation of the Angeles national forest as I don’t believe it contributes much or any to the map’s objectives. I like that the map is simple yet provides a good amount of information that is useful. I like the balance of the page and how everything seems to flow together.  

Below is an example of a poorly designed map that I selected to evaluate. 

Map source: UWF

The map I selected as a poorly designed map is a map of hotels in Barcelona. I had to make many assumptions when evaluating this map because it lacked so much pertinent information. If it were not for the file name of the map I would have no idea what the map represented or what message it is trying to convey. The selected map lacks some cartographic design principles. The maps symbology for qualitative data is not effectively applied. The maps lacks sufficient symbology for a reader to extract any useful information. I could not tell if the map was trying to convey the locations of hotels or the density of hotels in Barcelona. Without further detail on the map it is difficult to tell what is going on. The colors and symbols of the map do not support the substantive and affective objectives. The map has very few colors and in some cases the same colors are used for various map elements. Symbols on the map are basic which is fine, however the symbology is not described anywhere on the map. The map does not use appropriate graphics, images, text blocks or other supporting information to achieve its goals. The map lacks a title or legend. In some cases text on the map is difficult to read.

This map could use more data and some key elements to better convey the information it was intended to convey. Streets and landmarks would be a great addition to this map and would aid in orienting a user. A title and more information regarding the symbology would be helpful as well. Some borders and alignment of elements would help clean up the appearance of the map. 

This assignment was a little challenging as it made you really analyze map properties and how they work to convey a message. It was difficult to find a map that was ideal and had all the essential design properties that we learned about in this module. I did learn that even the worst maps I found did manage to convey some kind of information but I would hate to have to rely on poorly designed maps if I really needed them. 

A new class and a new introduction. GIS 5007 Computer Cartography. 

A little bit about me currently. I am working on earning a masters degree in the online GIS program. This is going to be the second GIS class I take at UWF. I work as a Natural Resource Manager for a small government agency in Southern California that is in charge of managing habitat for a variety of endangered and special status species. I have to use GIS on a regular basis at work to carry out various projects. I decided to go back to school and study GIS because I realized the level of complexity of the GIS projects I was working on was getting very high and I needed to expand my GIS knowledge in order to keep up. Some of my goals are to be able to make more appealing and informative maps and to understand and master the processes associated with remote sensing.

When I am not working or completing school assignments, I am busy with my seven-year-old daughter and one-year-old son. As a family, we really enjoy outdoor activities such as biking, kayaking, and exploring off the beaten path.

For this weeks assignment I put together a Story Map tour of all the places where I have lived at in California. This was a fun map to put together. I wish I had some personal photos that I could use, instead I had to rely on the web for my images. Making the story map was a fairly straightforward and simple process. Trying to find the correct citation information for the photos I used was probably the most challenging aspect of this assignment. 

My Story Map:

https://arcg.is/0H51CG0

For the last two weeks we have been working on a final project for GIS 5050. The final project requires us to analyze different objectives to determine the feasibility of a proposed power transmission line project within the western Florida counties of Manatee and Sarasota. 

I chose to create and present a Story Map for my final project. Putting together the story map was fun but I was hoping to incorporate some of the more attractive features in ESRI story maps arsenal. My story map was fairly basic composed of maps I created in ArcPro and associated text explaining the data presented on the maps. I was a little disappointed that I could not figure out how to either insert or create nice tables in my story map. 

The maps for this project proved to be difficult to present in an attractive and informative manner. The geometry of the power line's preferred corridor is long and linear. The long and linear nature of the project requires maps with little detail or various maps to show good detail of the data presented. I chose to use insets for information that I thought the reader would be most interested in. I used lots of background data such as shapefiles containing water bodies and river in order to make my maps a little more informative and attractive.  

Link to ESRI Story Map:

https://arcg.is/SCeyu0

 Module 6 assignments. Module six dealt with georefrencing and creating 3D scenes. The georefrencing portion of the lab assignment was time consuming as you have to place control points in good spots or your images will end up skewed or will not match. You always tend to add more points trying to get things to line up better but sometimes you are just tweaking another portion of the image you are working on. Trying to line up images when there are few reference points on the ground is difficult as was the case with parcel of land associated with Heritage Hall. 

The 3D scene portion of the lab was fun to do as the results are very interesting. Unfortunately in this particular case the results of the 3D scene are based on the results of the georefrencing portion of the assignment so the final quality depends on how well you do on georefrencing. 

Georefrencing layout.

3D Scene