13 replies to this topic

[Rob]

this is a map that will appear in a biography on Humehume, heir to the chief of Kauai that tried to reestablish independence (1824) after Kamehameha gained control in 1810 to finally unite all 8 major hawaii islands under one government.

I just learned that the book size/layout has changed (and hence how this will fit in it) so there is the opportunity to update this map one more time before publication.

Please note that the map title and text for each number are being supplied by the author via a title block. Sorry I don't have that info to put the map in context.

Suggestions, likes & dislikes welcome.

rob

Attached Files

•  HanapepeBattle_v7.png   253.9K   230 downloads

[DaveB]

The thing that stands out for me is the inversion effect caused by the direction of the shading on the terrain. That could be a difficult thing to fix at this stage of the map.

[EcoGraphic]

It looks like the rivers are running along the ridges.

I wonder if the outline of the landmass should really be blue. I realize it is depicting the water's edge, but it ads an extra element to the map that competes with the red and yellow arrows.

Gillian

[Rob]

Dave/Gillan:

even today after not looking at this map for a couple of months I don't get the inversion. perhaps i'm just hardwired to see it how I do by now. lol. i'll have to think about that problem. the reason for the "backward" lighting was to have the shadow of the ridgeline pop it out a bit. I didn't anticipant that such natural lighting (about 10 a.m.) on a mid-oblique view like this would be that confusing to the map reader, and previous comments from others didn't mention it.

if you read the map as oblique rather than planimetric does that change your perception of the relief/inversion? there are a couple of things I could do to make that clearer.

rob

[Martin Gamache]

Rob,

Terrain definitely reads as inversed for me. I would spend the time to regenerate it with a different ligthing azimuth. For me the obliqueness is hardly noticeable from this perspective because there is no horizon line. My personal preference would be for a planimetric view with traditional NW ligthing .

I second the comment about the thick blue shoreline distracting from the actual info you want to portray i.e. the red and yellow lines.

I usually try to avoid numbered elements on a map that refer to a key and if possible label everything on the map. It reads much better.

mg

[Rob]

thanks martin.

each number will have a couple paragraphs of text, so placing on the map was out of the question.

rj

[EcoGraphic]

I noticed on the yellow arrow where the tail meets the arrow head on the left hand side (pointing to the #10) there is a bit of a blob that should be straightened out. The other arrows seem to be fine.

The arrow heads on the red dashed arrows all appear to be a bit different in shape. You should just choose one and copy it however many times you need it.

I would actually recommend letting Illustrator add your arrow heads for you so that they are consistent, rather than hand drawing them.

To add arrowheads to a line using Illustrator rather than drawing them yourself here are the instructions from Illustrator CS Help:

Adding arrowheads to lines

The Add Arrowheads command lets you add an arrowhead to either end of a selected line. If applied as a filter, the resulting arrowheads are distinct objects grouped with the line; the arrowheads can be edited and moved like any other grouped object. If applied as an effect, the arrows are similar to brush strokes; that is, the arrows change location, direction, and color along with the line, but they cannot be edited separately. For more information, see Comparing filters and effects.

If you apply this command from the Effect menu, you can use the Appearance palette to modify or remove the effect from your object. (See Modifying and removing appearance attributes.)

To add arrowheads to a line or container:
Select the line or group (or target a layer in the Layers palette).
To apply the command as a filter, choose Filter > Stylize > Add Arrowheads; to apply the command as an effect, choose Effect > Stylize > Add Arrowheads.
Choose from various arrowhead designs for the start and end of the line by clicking the forward and back buttons below the Start and End arrow boxes. The start and end of the line refer to the order in which the line was drawn.
To rescale the size of an arrowhead, enter the percentage you want in the Scale text box. This scales the arrowhead relative to the stroke weight of the line.
To preview the command in the document window, select Preview.
Click OK.

Illustrator does increase the size of the arrowhead as the stroke weight increases, so if you really want a smaller arrowhead and a heavier stroke like you have on your map, you can always apply the arrowhead to your line in the style you want, then hit "Expand" and then "Ungroup" a couple of times so that you can scale the arrowhead as needed.


Gillian

[EcoGraphic]

I usually try to avoid numbered elements on a map  that refer to a key and if possible label everything on the map. It reads much better.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wonder if you should actually reverse the numbers so that they are white on a solid black circle. It would help distinguish them from all of the other lined elements: arrows, rivers

Just a thought. They could then be slightly smaller because they would be easier to read. Then again it may make them stand out too much.

Food for thought................

Gillian

[Hans van der Maarel]

I'm not seeing the inversion effect that much to be honest, probabely because the rivers add to the overall picture.

I agree that the coastline is a bit too prominently there, maybe if you remove it, or make it smaller/lighter it will not be as competitive to the rest of the information.

The inset map is confusing me a bit, as it seems to be a part of the main map. Can you do something to visually set it apart? Putting it in a separate box is maybe a bit too harsh, but a different color would already work, I think.

Apart from that it's a very nice map. Excellent work!

[Rick Dey]

At first sight I was hit with the inversion problem, however after a few moments and seeing the rivers in the valleys my mind corrected it. Knowing that it is oblique helps even more with that. (And you do mention perspective at the bottom of the map)

If you go with a reverse on those numbered circles I'd consider using a bolder font for the numeral.

Until Hans pointed out that inset I had completely ignored it thinking it was just an island off the coast. It definitely needs to be set off somehow.

Nice work. I've got a co-worker from Kauai that will be interested in this.

[Nick Springer]

I never had an issue with inversion of the terrain, the rivers pretty much made it look correct to me.

I support the other comments about the inset, as I had the same intial reaction.

You mention the "scale varies in this perspective" but I think scale may be very useful here. Maybe you could create a scale bar with a not of "scale at coastline" where most of the action takes place. Or just make a general scale, since the scale can't vary that much in this small area. I have found that for maps in mass market media, the exactness of the scale doesn't matter to the reader as much as a general sense of the magnitude.

Overall a very nice map. The colors are great.

[Rob]

Thanks for all the feed back.

Nick- one version had a scale at coastline bar scale. I'm not sure why we decided to remove it. It should go back in. (fyi scale is about 7 miles at coast between camps).

cheers, rob

[David Medeiros]

Hi Rob, great map. I realize I may be a bit late adding comments here but I'll go ahead anyway. I disagree on the inversion issue, looks correct to me. The viewing angle may be to blame since no relief above horizon is in view it may be hard to see that it is in fact oblique, but it wasn't an issue for me. I may have an unfair familiarity with the area however as I am originally from Kauai.

I think the shoreline might benefit from a slightly thinner line, but I don't think the current line detracts in anyway. I really like your thinning river head-lines. Too bad you can't see more of the headwaters to get more of that effect in.

dave

[EcoGraphic]

OK, all of sudden when I look at the map now I don't see the inversion. To be honest though I think it is because I am somehow now reading it right to left or bottom to top. I still think the standard NW projection works better for reading left to right, and would have eliminated the inversion in the first instance.

G