Map Design 25
Maps for the visually impaired have different requirements than maps for those with
normal vision. Maps for elementary school textbooks
have different requirements
than maps in scholarly works (Figure 2.8).
What are the
user needs? How will the readers use the map? Where will they use
the map? What are the conditions for reading the map? Will the map be consulted
while sitting at a desk, while driving, while on a bicycle tour, or as a reference? These
maps will have different requirements because of the needs of the user. A map for
a
cab driver, which is consulted “on the fly,” has different
requirements than one
intended for a tourist walking along a nature trail.
Too often mapmakers lose sight of their audience. Who is going to use the map
and for what should always be at the forefront of the mapmaker’s mind whether one
is making a map of sewer lines, a newspaper map showing current events, or a map
in a textbook.
The needs of a city planner, a pilot, and a student are different.
What is the Format?
Format refers to size and shape of the page or screen and whether color can be used.
It ties to where the map will be reproduced. Most professional journals, such as the
Annals of the Association of American Geographers,
The Professional Geographer,
and
CAGIS, have a standard format; these standards are available from the editor.
Many such journals publish illustration requirements in each issue. When books are
designed, the art editor determines the page format. Maps for theses and dissertations
have specific formats determined by the university, newspaper maps must conform
to column sizes, and maps in business reports will conform to the page size of the
printed report. Maps that will be viewed on a monitor or that will be projected onto
