Cartographic Skills

Map Critique 

Well Designed Map

Of all the maps to choose, I found that the map of Easter Island stood out as one of the better maps.  The user can easily navigate the map to locate points of interest throughout the island.  The creator of the map draws the reader into the map and its points of interest, utilizing and filling most of the open space with needed information.  With the addition of a location inset, the user can easily identify where he/she is in relation to the world.  Elevation is softly added in the background, and is not too overpowering in order to keep the reader’s attention focused on the points of interest in the legend.  Labels are conveniently placed, and allow the user to see key locations and important texts.  I particularly liked the addition of longitude and latitude lines.  This allowed the map designer to forego the north arrow yet still keep the reader oriented.

Poorly Designed Map 

There were several poorly-designed maps to choose from for this lab.  This map stood out to me.  The design shows a disinterest in the project overall.  Any reader of this map will find it difficult to understand what the designer is trying to display especially since there is no title.  With no legend the reader will find it difficult to distinguish what the designer is trying to display.  The total lack of any of the basic map building blocks leads me to believe the designer of this map was looking to answer a specific question for himself, and was not interested in sharing any findings.  The spaghetti-like model that can be found in the focal point of the map is too overpowering.  Even if the designer added the key information to this map, the user would still be confused and unable to glean any useful information about the topic.