Week 1 - Introduction to Cartography and Map Design Principles - Module 1

The first lab for Cartographic Skills involves selecting a well-designed map and a poorly-designed map, based on Edward Tufte's 20 principles of map design, also known as Tufteisms.  Displayed below are the two maps I chose, along with explanations of several Tufteisms to which they adhere or violate.

A Well-Designed Map of Easter Island

     This map of Easter Island is well designed because it satisfies several Tufteism principles of map design.  It follows Principles #1 , #2 and #3 in that it is a well-designed presentation of interesting data, and immediately shows us that most of the statues and ruins lie along the coast, and that there are at least two mountains on the island. In addition, the map and its legend efficiently draw the eye to the most prominent and well-known cultural features on Easter Island, those that visitors are most likely to want to visit.   The features (moai, petroglyphs, etc.) are clearly and simply represented by symbols that are easy to identify and remember, and they are also labeled on the map by name (Principles #7 and #8), as are the more general areas of the island.  The roads, tracks, and settled places, which the visitors will need to know about in order to access the sites, are clearly indicated.  The index map locating the map in the Pacific Ocean also contributes to the map’s effective presentation of information.   The map follows #4 in that the data is multivariate.  Not only does the map clarify various cultural features of Easter Island, it also is a topographic map done in an intuitive and attractive color scheme, so the visitors can get a good idea of the terrain.   The index map offers additional data dimension.  Finally, the map adheres to Principle #5 and tells the truth, in that it gives the visitor an accurate portrayal of what they can expect from the island, culturally, topographically, and geographically.


A Poorly-Designed Map about Sit-Coms in the United States

     This map about sit-coms and the United States has several flaws in its design.  Two related Tufte principles that it does not follow are #7 and #8: it is ambiguous in that it does not explain the relationships between the T.V. shows in the lists and the parts of the country in which the lists are displayed.  We are left to wonder, for example, are these the favorite T.V. shows in different parts of the country?  Or, do the story lines of those shows takes place in those areas?  There are no explanatory notes. The map also violates Principle #7 when it assigns different colors to the states.  This scheme apparently has nothing to do with the data, but seems to have been done solely to add some variety to the design.  This color scheme thus also violates Tufteism #9 (show data variation, not design variation) and #11 (two dimensions, regions of the country and color of state, exceed or do not correspond to the single dimension of the data, which (we assume, but don’t know for sure) is T.V. show setting.