Editing Cartography (section)

==Map design==
{{Main|Cartographic design}}
[[File:Livingston-Greenwich-map.jpg|thumb|right|Illustrated map]]

Modern technology, including advances in [[printing]], the advent of [[geographic information system]]s and [[graphics software]], and the [[Internet]], has vastly simplified the process of map creation and increased the palette of design options available to cartographers. This has led to a decreased focus on production skill, and an increased focus on quality [[design]], the attempt to craft maps that are both [[Applied aesthetics|aesthetically pleasing]] and practically useful for their intended purposes.

===Map purpose and audience===
A map has a purpose and an audience. Its purpose may be as broad as teaching the major physical and political features of the entire world, or as narrow as convincing a neighbor to move a fence. The audience may be as broad as the general public or as narrow as a single person. Mapmakers use design principles to guide them in constructing a map that is effective for its purpose and audience.

====Cartographic process====
[[File:The Cartographic Process.png|thumb|The cartographic process]]

The cartographic process spans many stages, starting from conceiving the need for a map and extending all the way through its consumption by an audience. Conception begins with a real or imagined environment. As the cartographer gathers information about the subject, they consider how that information is structured and how that structure should inform the map's design. Next, the cartographers experiment with [[Cartographic generalization|generalization]], [[symbol]]ization, [[typography]], and other map elements to find ways to portray the information so that the map reader can interpret the map as intended. Guided by these experiments, the cartographer settles on a design and creates the map, whether in physical or electronic form. Once finished, the map is delivered to its audience. The map reader interprets the symbols and patterns on the map to draw conclusions and perhaps to take action. By the spatial perspectives they provide, maps help shape how we view the world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog160/node/1882 |title=3.1 The Cartographic Process {{!}} GEOG 160: Mapping our Changing World |website=www.e-education.psu.edu |access-date=2019-12-14 |archive-date=2019-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214193705/https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog160/node/1882 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Aspects of map design===
Designing a map involves bringing together a number of elements and making a large number of decisions. The elements of design fall into several broad topics, each of which has its own theory, its own research agenda, and its own best practices. That said, there are synergistic effects between these elements, meaning that the overall design process is not just working on each element one at a time, but an iterative feedback process of adjusting each to achieve the desired [[Holism|gestalt]].
* [[File:Worlds animate.gif|thumb|Areal distortion caused by [[Mercator projection]]]]'''[[Map projections]]''': The foundation of the map is the plane on which it rests (whether paper or screen), but projections are required to flatten the surface of the [[Earth]] or other celestial bodies. While all projections distort the surface, cartographers strategically control how and where distortion occurs<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lambert |first1=Nicolas |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781000061703 |title=Practical Handbook of Thematic Cartography: Principles, Methods, and Applications |last2=Zanin |first2=Christine |date=2020-05-10 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-429-29196-8 |edition=1 |pages=19–27 |language=en |doi=10.1201/9780429291968 |s2cid=219413999 |access-date=2023-10-17 |archive-date=2023-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222083851/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9780429291968/practical-handbook-thematic-cartography-nicolas-lambert-christine-zanin |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, the popular [[Mercator projection]] does not distort angles on the surface, but it makes regions near the poles appear larger than they are.<ref name=":3" />
* [[Cartographic generalization|'''Generalization''']]: All maps must be drawn at a smaller scale than reality, requiring that the information included on a map be a very small sample of the wealth of information about a place. Generalization is the process of adjusting the level of detail in geographic information to be appropriate for the scale and purpose of a map, through procedures such as selection, simplification, and classification.
* [[Map symbol|'''Symbology''']]: Any map visually represents the location and properties of geographic phenomena using map symbols, graphical depictions composed of several [[visual variable]]s, such as size, shape, color, and pattern.
* '''Composition''': As all of the symbols are brought together, their interactions have major effects on map reading, such as [[Gestalt psychology#Prägnanz|grouping]] and [[visual hierarchy]].
* [[Typography (cartography)|'''Typography or labeling''']]: Text serves a number of purposes on the map, especially aiding the recognition of features, but labels must be designed and positioned well to be effective.<ref>Jill Saligoe-Simmel,[https://www.drjill.net/map-fonts-article-1-the-basics-of-typography-for-cartography/ "Using Text on Maps: Typography in Cartography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230516/https://www.drjill.net/map-fonts-article-1-the-basics-of-typography-for-cartography/ |date=2018-12-20 }}</ref>
* [[Page layout (cartography)|'''Layout''']]: The map image must be placed on the page (whether paper, web, or other media), along with related elements, such as the title, legend, additional maps, text, images, and so on. Each of these elements have their own design considerations, as does their integration, which largely follows the principles of [[graphic design]].
* '''Map type-specific design''': Different kinds of maps, especially [[thematic map]]s, have their own design needs and best practices.