A map making process...

1. Selection (what information will you depict) 
2. Classification (what ‘groupings’/info types)
3. Simplification (strip it down)
4. Symbolization (represent it)

Typography

1. Visual Hierarchy - Classification: Countries, Region, Cities.
2. Size, Upper case, Style and Weight.

My route to university

Light Night

I found this map from Light Night brochure last month and kept it as a reference. Aim of this map is to show where the events were taking place in Leeds city centre. This map was intended as a tour guide for those unfamiliar with the parking system, transportation or the locations of buildings such as museum and shopping malls. 

This map show a variety of things with only two main colours: car parks, street name, main buildings (shopping malls, town hall, central library, museum), transportation (bus station, train station, interchange). Because most visitors come to Leeds city centre to attend these events, so having white colour to show the event places and main streets could be a good way to capture viewer’s attention and quickly connect the map to the event information on the next page. Dark green to highlight the importance (transportation and museum), this would be the first information for new visitors on arrival. However, one thing I don’t like about is the information printed on the next page. The map and the event’s information should be on the same page so that reader could easily and quickly refer to. Another matter is that it is hard to find the event places on the map (its hard to refer from the events info), so I would suggest that the event place should be colourcoded. As a result reader could quicker to identify the colour highlighted. What makes reader easier to identify each building is the simplicity of this 2D map. It shows the relative size and shapes of the main buildings without extra distracting details. 

AirTrain

AirTrain is a light rail system developed to link Newark and John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport to Manhattan. 

Due to the fact that the majority of the potential users of this transit does not speak English or English is not their first language, so the maps were designed to not be language dependent. Using bold colours against dark background helps to maximize the contrast and visibility for dirty and dusty outdoor environment. The logo itself was done in a simple way, easily describing the transportation system: a rail meets a plan. The typographic is very legible in any size, it could be the most effective font to serve in any colours. The colour coding helps to categorize: red for Newark and blue for JFK. As well as the shapes were introduced to distinguish the difference: squares for terminals and circles for stations (on JFK map), Pear shaped for terminals and squares for car parks. Having think dashed lines to shows the routes and this idea is also match with the “rail”.   

Famous maps

Mappa Mundi, C.1300
To know more watch the clip here.

Another famous example is called Map of nowhere by Grayson Perry, who was heavily influenced by Mappa Mundi.

Jacopo De Barberi was a Italian. His most famous work was known as "Map of Venice". It was made out of Woodcut then took it to print. In this map, it captured the view from a bird, without people actually flying up.  

So how history can inform us in modern maps?