56
MaP Design
checker in the computer program; it cannot determine if you have used the correct
version of a name or if you have a correctly spelled but erroneous word.
The cartographer must also be sure that the sense of the text is correct, that is,
that the words communicate the intended message. Therefore, after the spelling has
been checked, the map as a whole must be examined for meaning.
Large mapmaking companies and agencies have quality assurance departments
staffed with editors, but cartographers working alone or in small firms must perform
their own quality checks.
sUggestIons foR fURtheR ReAdIng
Brewer, Cynthia A. (2005).
Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users. Redlands, CA:
ESRI Press.
International Paper Company. (2003).
Pocket Pal: The Handy Little Book of Graphic Arts
Production (19th ed.). Memphis, TN: Author.
Monmonier, Mark. (2006).
From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name,
Claim, and Inflame. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
57
chapter 4
Color
in Cartographic Design
“It’s [color] got everything to do with it. Illinois is green, Indiana
is pink. You
show me any pink down there, if you can. No, sir; it’s
green.”
—M
ark
T
wain
,
Tom Sawyer Abroad
(1894)
Although color on maps has been seen as desirable from the early days of hand-
colored maps, when maps were sold as “penny plain, twopence colored,” until the
19th century color was not an option for mass-produced maps. Even into the 20th
century color maps were costly and used only in large projects, such as atlases. Jour-
nals, magazines, and newspapers printed maps in black and white. Today, with the
advent of computers, color monitors, and inexpensive color printers, color maps have
become ubiquitous. Even the occasional mapmaker now needs to be familiar with the
use of color on maps.
Color has a powerful visual impact; it attracts the eye and helps in directing the
reader to the various elements of the map. Color allows greater flexibility in design;
it aids in distinguishing figure–ground, such as land and water, and between catego-
ries, such as roads and railroads, rural and urban, and types of vegetation; it helps
in establishing hierarchies within categories. While categories and hierarchies can be
shown on black-and-white maps, the use of even one color on a map greatly enlarges
design possibilities.
However, although the use of color is generally considered desirable, it does pres-
ent the cartographer with some of the biggest map design challenges. Color, like
typography, is one of the most frequently criticized aspects of a design. It is one of
the most visible elements of a map. Readers tend to have definite likes and dislikes
respecting color. Planning a color map is more complex than planning a black-and-
white map; one must consider connotations, conventions, preferences, and interac-
tion with other colors and with other map elements, such as typography, linework,
and symbols. Registration of colors (alignment) can be a problem for printed maps,
and preparation of the artwork is more complex.
