Module 1: Map Critique

 Module 1: Map Critique

In this weeks module the focus was critiquing maps to see if they were well designed maps or poorly designed maps. Being able to critique maps can help make sure your maps are the best they can be for the future. Maps have changed through time and people have different preferences but it is important to know the six Commandments and 20 Tufteisms that many cartographers. The six Commandments are: Commandment 1: Map Substantial Information; Commandment 2: Don’t Lie with Maps; Commandment 3: Effectively Label Maps; Commandment 4: Minimize Map Crap; Commandment 5: Map Layout Matters; Commandment 6: Evaluate your Map. The 20 Tufteisms are: 

Being able to know the Commandments and Tufteisms are important because you are not only able to critique your work but other cartographers work. It makes sure you are getting all the information out there without overwhelming people.

Well-Designed Map:

When looking at this map it is well-designed because it shows all the information that is needed to understand what the map is trying to show. To make a well-designed map there are Six Commandments that map makers tend to follow which goes into more detail with the 20 Tufteisms that helps understand what a map should look like in the end. Commandment 1: Map Substantial Information (Tufteisms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20) which indicates why one needs to make a map in the first place and gives as much information as possible with not a lot of clutter. This map was able to do that through just showing the state of South Carolina with the boundaries of each game zone and the counties in each game zone. Commandment 3: Effectively Label Maps (Tufteisms 7 & 8) which indicates the importance of labeling and when to use it. This map was able to do that through the labeling of the game zones and the counties. Also, even though the colors showed each zone there were still numbers in each zone that was bigger and showed where each zone was located. Lastly, it made sure there were no distortions of the information on the map. Commandment 5: Map Layout Matters (Tufteisms 19) which indicates the importance of how a map is shown on the page. This map is able to do this by having the map in the middle with the important information surrounding the map. Being able to evaluate the map helps me know exactly what I want my maps to look like in the future and in the class.

Poorly Designed Map:

For the poorly designed map there were many areas for improvement and the map did not follow the 6 Commandments all the way through. Commandment 1: Map Substantial Information (Tufteisms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20) which indicates why one needs to make a map in the first place and gives as much information as possible with not a lot of clutter. This map was not able to do this because it was not able to show the information without cluttering the map. Also, the title of the map is US Capital 1999 Population indicates what it wants to show but the reason to make the make is not communicated. Commandment 3: Effectively Label Maps (Tufteisms 7 & 8) which indicates the importance of labeling and when to use it. This map was not able to do this because the labels in the legend only had numbers, but you are unsure of what the numbers meant. Also, all the circles were all the same color and made it harder to know the exact population in each state’s capital. Commandment 5: Map Layout Matters (Tufteisms 19) which indicates the importance of how a map is shown on the page. This map was able to show the map properly, but there were no other map elements such as north arrow and scale bar. Many people know how big the US is, but you always need those elements on a map. To improve this map, I would have made sure people knew what the numbers meant for each circle or have changed it to a range with the states being different colors and not a circle covering up the whole map. Also, would have indicated why the map was created in the first place and the importance of needing this map. Lastly, I noticed it did not have Alaska or Hawaii on this map to indicate their state capital population.

Even though cartographers have different preferences on how they would like their maps to look it is important to present information that anyone who looks at it will understand what you are trying to represent. Always having the six Commandments and the 20 Tufteisms in your mind will help make your maps they can be. Lastly, it is important to remember that you can always grow and not to take critiques personally when it comes to your maps.