15 replies to this topic

[razornole]

Here are a few details from the BT. I'll have to attach several different attachments b/c of size limitation. I didn't pick the easy parts of the map, but rather the parts that I struggled with. That way I can get some ideas for the revisions. This one is from a really crowded section. Whole lot going on in a tiny space.

Thanks,
kru

Attached Files

•  BT_Back_Nant_5x7_.jpg   712.07K   187 downloads

[razornole]

Another view of a higher elevation area. Again a lot going on

kru

Attached Files

•  BT_Front_Fishhawk_7_5x5_.jpg   868.24K   112 downloads

[razornole]

Final view, this one showing detail of a city area. I do not specialize in city maps.

kru

Attached Files

•  BT_Front_Franklin_7x5_.jpg   822.94K   125 downloads

[David Medeiros]

I'm probably never going to be in this location, but I want the map anyway! Pure map porn.

The only thing I see here that I don't like is how much the city fill covers the hill shading and contours. Hard to avoid though and may on;y be an issue because of the scale of your detail shots.

I have two questions about the river naming:

1) why did you decide to use all uppercase for the rivers and and upper/lower for creeks, streams and lakes? I usually keep a unified style for feature classes (usually upper/ lower for water except oceans), but I kinda like the mixed style you used.

2) It seems like the lower level creek naming is hit or miss, is there a threshold you are following or was it based on ability to verify a real name for each?

[Dennis McClendon]

A couple of things on the Franklin area, not as criticisms but just because I think it's good to discuss design aspects:

It would be helpful to provide the street names for the routes the highways follow through town. It's obviously not the point of the map, but it's how most hikers will arrive.

I find it a little jarring to move from the light blue fill of lakes and wide rivers to the dark blue lines of narrower streams. There's an area where Cartoogechaye Creek abruptly changes from one to the other. This might be aided by experimenting with the line weights, or by choosing a medium blue that could work for all water.

I wonder if the audience of this map might be better served by English words instead of pictograms. So under Franklin it would say

hospital
info
paid camping
grocery
shopping
fuel
restaurants
hotels

I find it hard to understand the different meanings of the three shopping pictograms on the second line, and is that hut with a flag a school or a ranger station?

[razornole]

Thanks for the comments,

David, the threshold was the names that were available. I could never find a detailed GNIS layer, so Ihad to work with what I had. I wish they would pay me to go out there and bushwhack all those streams to find the names.

For the cases, I don't really have a good answer other then I just did it. Only the rivers and lakes are caps.

Dennis, I always use a combination of dark/light features when mapping over a terrain because of the variation in the terrain (i.e. dark gorges and light peaks). You'll notice that with all my vectors; trails, water, roads etc... I will admit that the streams are a bit darker then original, but that was at the clients request. Almost every proof that I submitted had a comment to darken the streams.

I personally prefer pictograms vs text.

Thanks,
kru

[AndyM]

Just got to look at this for a few minutes. Please tell me how I can buy a copy when it's published!

Andy

[David Medeiros]

This may have come up in previous posts, but were you using NHD datasets? I've been working with same for N Calfornia, and they are a bear to parse down to a manageable hierarchy.

For what it's worth, I agree with you on the pictograms, I greatly prefer them to text blocks or lists. As long as the symbology is generally universal and easy to decipher they work far better than text because they don't need to be read, they can be deciphered at a glance. Your pictograms are clear and easy to translate.

[CHART]

Really nice map.

I would add a few spot heights.

Also near Cozard's Mill you have labeled the 2250 contours 'pointing' downhill. This is a no-no.



Regards,

[DaveB]

The only comment I have to add is some of the text is very small. I find it harder to read such small text these days, especially on a non-solid background. Maybe I need new glasses!

(Hans was right - you're posting the map piece by piece! The pieces are excellent. I would love to get a hold of the whole paper map! )

[razornole]

Thanks for the replies,

David, I did use NHD high-res data. All my classifications were manually done in Illustrator. I found that far easier then working in Arc. However, I only know enough of Arc to clunk through it.
I do try to limit my text on any visual graphic. Furthermore, I enjoy the challenge of creating lexicon icons. I value Dennis' opinion, b/c I know there will most likely be a time that I will have to use the method and it is good to know that is an accepted technique.

Chart, you are correct, there could be a lot more spot elevations. There are some, but I mainly concentrated them to corridor around the trail. I'm not sure what you mean by contour label pointing downhill. All of my contour labels are orthogonal and read upright. Definitely not a cartographic standard, but one that I prefer.

Thanks again,
kru

[CHART]

Thanks for the replies,

Chart, you are correct, there could be a lot more spot elevations. There are some, but I mainly concentrated them to corridor around the trail. I'm not sure what you mean by contour label pointing downhill. All of my contour labels are orthogonal and read upright. Definitely not a cartographic standard, but one that I prefer.

Thanks again,
kru

I meant contour label should always read uphill... You also have contour label that are not aligned with the contours.

[razornole]

Thanks for the replies,

Chart, you are correct, there could be a lot more spot elevations. There are some, but I mainly concentrated them to corridor around the trail. I'm not sure what you mean by contour label pointing downhill. All of my contour labels are orthogonal and read upright. Definitely not a cartographic standard, but one that I prefer.

Thanks again,
kru

I meant contour label should always read uphill... You also have contour label that are not aligned with the contours.

I understand what you mean now, thanks for clarifying. That was a conscious decision that I made, i.e. I don't read upside down nor do I write upside down. On the other hand, if I orient the map to the direction I'm facing, I'm screwed. I have noticed that some of the labels a misaligned, but it is only a handful out of thousands.

Thanks again,
kru

[CHART]

http://www.cartotalk...?showtopic=1499

Read the first post from Charlie Frye.

I also think Dennis is correct you should had text to enhance HARD to decrypted symbol when possible. Unless you want the reader to look at your legend all the time.

[razornole]

http://www.cartotalk...?showtopic=1499

Read the first post from Charlie Frye.

I also think Dennis is correct you should had text to enhance HARD to decrypted symbol when possible. Unless you want the reader to look at your legend all the time.

Thanks for the link, I read it all. I'm guessing that you are referring me to rule #2 (I always get a kick out of rules in the art field). I'm glad that I oriented my labels to the page or else I would be breaking a rule.

I do expect my reader to look at the legend once or twice, or whenever he/she needs clarification. If that is all the time then I failed to communicate properly. As for me, I study the legend first then explore the map. I understand your opinion and Dennis', I just view adding text as very last resort. I'll save my reading for the rules of cartography.

Thanks,
kru