Favourite Cartography of April 2019
Maps I love
I wanted to create a place where I could continually share maps that have inspired me to think differently about problems.
Too often I merely tap the like button as I scroll through Twitter. This month I started making a note of some of the most interesting maps and my observations surrounding them. I also wanted a place to come back to when I work on future projects and need that extra ounce of creativity. The reason’s behind the designs might not be a true reflection of the creators goals but I hope my thoughts will be worthwhile.
Where possible, I‘ve listed the creator of each map and linked out to their work or their personal contact. In most cases for individuals I’ve sent a message through prior to sharing where possible.
The following article contains all my own views, not that of friends, family or my work. Feel free to dislike some of the maps I’ve pointed out. I’d love to hear if you’ve found any of the findings interesting.
1. Switzerland’s Regional Income.
This map caught my eye with a bold chloropleth legend. I found that when viewed on a mobile screen the mountainous terrain creates an impressive outline for the various regions across Switzerland.
I wanted this to be the first map I shared because of the brilliant tutorial (if you’re into code) compiled by its creators for creating the map in R.
From a cartographic perspective the background gridlines are a nice little touch that don’t detract from the map itself, they’re barely even noticeable at first glance.
2. United States of America sideways
When scrolling through Twitter, Anna Wiederkehr pointed out that on some phones shifting the view of the US onto it’s side can really help with the story.
The Washington Post have put together a really unique visualisation here as the legend itself maps neatly to the rotated outline of the country.
Often times keeping to an area’s true geography is important but adapting to a mobile viewer is also important. We can rotate phones if need be but the convenience helps readers spend longer on the detail.
It does, however, make you feel quite blessed to be primarily mapping in a country that fits neatly onto most phone screens.
3. Kent State Trees
The following map ticks a lot of boxes for what I look for in great cartography. If you can do a monochrome map well and then add a splash of colour you’re not distracting people with unnecessary details.
The map shows clusters of trees around the Kent State University campus but picks out the details (in the value of the largest trees). The legend only shows one variable and that’s diameter; this means that the 6 largest trees are picked out by adding a label directly to the map and not overcomplicating matters with different colours and sizes on the side.
The technology used to gather the tree data sounded pretty interesting when I took a look, with some of the canopy calculations taking shapefiles as input.
4. Saco Bay Surfing
This map below achieved 2nd place in the Avenza Map Competition and it would have probably won a few more!
From my perspective it’s really nice to see a map like this especially as it tackles quite an innocuous issue as Surfing (when compared to the more pressing issues of climate induced sea level rise of other coastal maps). I think it looks interesting in a quick scan and then zooming in provides the detail which tells the story.
The standout feature is the legend / north arrow combination which is the perfect way of describing wave formation and also provide context to the direction of the waves. Describing two variables in a map can be a tricky aspect of cartography but when done well it can in my opinion tell a more captivating story.
5. Plastic in the Oceans
Most of the maps I’ve been interested in this past month have been focussed on the design of the map itself. The National Geographic on the other hand have done really well combining a small map and key with a larger data visualisation of plastic around the oceans.
I love the fact that such a well known media outlet decided to release a map that wasn’t in Mercator and instead chose a projection which gives the Oceans a much greater focus. Those wanting the exact projection, the closest I can find is the “Seafloor Mollweide”. I’m particular intrigued by the cartographic decision to split North America as often it’s such a key part of map design giving the reader a key reference location. Nevertheless I like what they’ve done!
If I didn’t include a map you saw this month, show it to me in May and that’s giving me something interesting to talk about.
The best place to correct my grammar is Twitter — @RobACollins.
