Cartographic Map Design and Layout

After all that hard work making your map why would you want to risk printing it without, say, a title or legend? And what if there are other things you ought to include there but didn’t? Do you expect your audience to automatically know what this map is all about?

Of course, the map itself is the most important part of your printed product and it is always a good idea to spend a lot of time on that aspect of your effort. Similarly, the layout deserves attention so that it can act as a showcase for the main map and also provide all the elements necessary to give the audience the appropriate context with which to understand it.

So, what will you need to create a professional looking layout? Following these points will help you get there:

✓ Look through a list of all the possible things that could go on the layout

✓ Decide which of those things will go on the layout and get input from others.

✓ Research and gain inspiration from other maps and artwork and then choose a style.

✓ Decide which of the layout items will be emphasized and which will be understated by creating an emphasis map.

✓ Decide on an initial configuration for those items.

✓ Build the layout.