LaHore City Map

Image Credit: http://pamirtours.pk/maps/lahore_city_map_1.gif

This is a brief critique of the map of the city of LaHore in Pakistan. Critiques are based on several different factors that are figure ground, balance, clarity, legibility, and visual hierarchy.

Figure Ground: There really is no figure ground distinction in this map. The map image encompasses the entirety of the image with the exception of the legend on the bottom.

Balance: This map is pretty well balanced for the most part. The inset map on the bottom left does attract attention and could be reduced to increase balance in the image.

Clarity: This map is basically a navigational map with streets and regions labeled. Overall clarity of those elements is decent although the graticule with coordinates makes the map less clear to me.

Legibility: Again, the graticule diminishes the overall legibility of the map. The labels are small as well which makes them hard to read.

Visual Hierarchy: The legend and title are appropriately set in different levels on this map which is good. I would like to see the map area reduced and softened around the edges to make it more visually appealing and that would emphasize different levels as well.

Disney’s Epcot Map

Image Credit: http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/epcot-map.jpg

This is a brief critique of the map of  Disney’s Epcot Center.  Critiques are based on several different factors that are figure ground, balance, clarity, legibility, and visual hierarchy.

Figure Ground: The figure in this map definitely contrasts well with the ground and looks great.

Balance: The placement of the map in the center of the image overall surrounded by the text on all sides does well for overall balance. Nothing in this image really reaches out and grabs the attention away from the map area, which is where the viewers should have their attention. I would change the black background on the bottom to a slightly lighter color however due to it being somewhat bold compared to the rest of the image.

Clarity: Overall with how much is going on in this map the clarity of the map is good. I find as a viewer I can easily distinguish between the different areas and features on the map.

Legibility: There is a ton of text on this map placed really close together which compromises legibility somewhat. To increase legibility I think the text can be reduced and the individual attractions can have a little bit less description to clean up the area surrounding the main map.

Visual Hierarchy: I think this map does well with hierarchy. The text is slightly emphasized with background color which makes the map visually appealing.

Canada, eh?

Image Credit: http://media.beta.photobucket.com/user/anagahan/media/Canada/Canada-map.jpg.html?filters[term]=cool%20map&filters[primary]=images#/user/cape6/media/ljkljkljkljljl.jpg.html?filters%5Bterm%5D=cool%20map&filters%5Bprimary%5D=images&_suid=135474579831508551248715639044

This is a brief critique of a map of Canada. Critiques are based on several different factors that are figure ground, balance, clarity, legibility, and visual hierarchy.

Figure Ground: Overall the map in contrast with the water as the ground really stands out and looks exceptional. I might even be intrigued to lighten the color of the bodies of water even more to really make the figure stand out.

Balance: I think that this map is very evenly distributed throughout the entirety of the graphic. The map is a little light in the upper left hand area but not a great cause for concern.

Clarity: For me clarity is an issue with so much going on and all the graphics are very close together. I do understand that this map is not exactly for navigation and the illustrations all over are a part of the idea that the illustrator is going for, but I feel like every time I look at this map I find something that is buried by the larger illustrations surrounding it.

Legibility: When this map was created, it was obvious the legibility of labels was not a huge concern although they are not terribly hard to read (despite being in French). I would like to see a contrasting color behind the labels or some sort of border/underline to make them stand out.

Visual Hierarchy: Not a ton of separation of levels on this map at all. It appears that everything besides the water and land features are all piled on one level. Overall I don’ t think it is very impressive.

Grand Theft Auto “Vice City” Map

Image Credit: http://media.gta-series.com/images/vcstories/maps/vcuniquestunts_falkaspargs.png

This is a brief critique of the map of the famous Vice City, which is the city in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto. Critiques are based on several different factors that are figure ground, balance, clarity, legibility, and visual hierarchy.

Figure Ground: This map I think does a poor job with contrasting between the ground and the more important map features. I think a lighter hue for a background color would be appropriate also with no design.

Balance: This map is fairly balanced for it encompasses the majority of the space. No feature really demands attention which is always pleasant to the eyes.

Clarity: This map’s clarity is greatly aided by the use of different colors for different regions of the city. There are some small labels on the map that could be increased in size to draw a little more attention to those areas.

Legibility: Overall legibility of the map is exceptional. There are no real problems being able to identify different features or labels.

Visual Hierarchy: Like I said before the background of this map needs to be softer. Also, I would like to see the text with a slightly different shade of the current color it is placed on. This could give the text a little more “pop” and make the map that much more visually appealing.

Knoxville Zoo Map

Image Credit: http://mappery.com/maps/Knoxville-Zoo-Map.jpg

This is a brief critique of the map for the Knoxville City Zoo. Critiques are based on several different factors that are figure ground, balance, clarity, legibility, and visual hierarchy.

Figure Ground: First impression of this map is that it’s main component greatly stands free of the background color. It definitely contrasts well and stands out.

Balance: Overall this map is pretty well balanced. No one part or picture grabs the attention which is great to see in a image that has so much information.

Clarity: The map is generally is pretty clear and simple. I would suggest removing some of the design in the green areas that really represent nothing  to clean up the map a bit.

Legibility: The map is definitely cluttered with many pictures and labels. I think a great deal of simplification and selection of the most important images to be included only on the map would serve well here.

Visual Hierarchy: This map correctly places emphasis through visual hierarchy. Images and things the legend on the right side are appropriately accented with color to make them stand out. I believe that some of the text could be placed on a slightly darker background to make them stand out a bit more.

Ethnic Divide in Milwaukee

Ethnic Divide in Milwaukee, a photo by nelsobr@uwec.edu on Flickr.

This is a map of Milwaukee County in Wisconsin and it represents the different ethnicities within that area. It is very decisive in displaying the cultural divide within the city as African Americans are almost exculsively inhabiting “downtown” areas while White citizens reside primarily in the surrounding suburbs. The map types shown in the four different maps on this area is known as a chloropleth map, and represents different areas with different shades depending on the numerical value associated with that area. The most difficult aspect to this map was to place four smaller maps on the space while maintaining a non – cluttered and aesthetically pleasing graphic.

Farm Acres in 1997

This map is a representation of the total number of farm acres in 1997. This map was created in ArcGIS and it describes well where a majority of our domestic food product originates. The type of map used for this is known as a cholorpleth map and it uses the separation of area (usually though political boundry) and then assigns a different color, or shade of a color, that is associated with a particular value. This map is particularly good at describing within the United States, where a majority of our farm land exists.

Farm Acres in 1997, a photo by nelsobr@uwec.edu on Flickr.

Elderly Drivers And Motor Vehicle Accidents 2010

This map describes the number of automobile accidents in 2010 per 1,000 per state as well as the percentage of people in that state that are 65 and over. This map was created partially in ArcGIS as well as in Adobe Illustrator and tries to correlate ‘bad driving’ with old age. The most difficult aspect of creating this map was to realistically represent the data in a manner that is statistically accurate. For example, the state of Florida had one of the highest values for total accidents in a given year, but, that could have been soley based on the fact that simply more people live in that state than say South Dakota. That being said, instead of taking the total number of accidents per state and correlating those data with percent elderly population, I had to relate the number of accidents to the number of people. Therefore, I used accidents per 10,000 citizens and related that to the percentage of elderly drivers. The results may surprise you.

Elderly Drivers And Motor Vehicle Accidents 2010, a photo by nelsobr@uwec.edu on Flickr.

Africa

Africa, a photo by nelsobr@uwec.edu on Flickr.

This is a map of the continent of Africa. This is a basic reference map displaying major land features and political boundries. For this map, clarity and legibility was key for there are many different features and countries that had to be labeled. The most challenging piece to this map was simply finding room and placing data labels in a way to preserve the overall map quality and to prevent the map from looking cluttered.

 

South American Projections

South American Projections, a photo by nelsobr@uwec.edu on Flickr.

This map represents the continent of South America which is being projected differently 9 times. The purpose of this map is to describe the differences in map projections and how it can distort the shape and size of a land area. The most difficult aspect of this map was to align the different projections based on one longitudinal point (-60 Degrees) to accurately describe the distortion of the seperate projections. I think this map gives great insight and proposes one to think about how different maps can poorly represent land area and shape and that what map projection that is being used is very important.