M3 Lab: Cartographic Design

The object of the lab in module 3 was to take the data provided and create a map of the schools in Washington DC's Ward 7. During the design of the map it was required that Gestalt's Principles of Cartographic Design were implemented to accurately display the data while maintaining visual hierarchy

The map above used a thumbtack symbol to represent the schools in the subject area. Both increasing size and a color gradient from least to most intense were used to symbolize that schools from elementary to high school respectively. The red color for the symbols was chosen to visually emphasize the school locations in regard to the basemap. This was an implementation of Gestalt's contrast principle. To reduce school label clutter a table was used (top left) to display the school names with their corresponding identifier. An inset map was used (bottom right) to display Ward 7's national location.

This map was created using ArcGIS Pro. Once all layers in the provided data were added to the map the clip tool was used to isolate the schools in the Ward 7 area from the rest in Washington D.C.. This was the only tool use required to aggregate the data needed however I used the clip tool multiple more times to isolate the parks and roads within Ward 7 so that I could modify them separately from the ones in the rest of D.C.. When symbolizing the roads I used the dissolve tool to remove the plethora of lines that divided the roadways to give them a cleaner look. A gradient color and size thumbtack symbol was added using the symbology pane for the layer. Once I reached my maps desired look by changing the color scheme, I was ready to start making my layout. Two map panes were added, one for the primary map, and one for the inset map (bottom right). Gradient boarders were added to the basemap, legend, inset map, and school identifier table so to enhance their figure-ground relation, improving the visual hierarchy. Finally all essential map elements were added.

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GIS Portfolio - Michael Malone

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