Designed Maps: A Sourcebook for GIS Users at Dominant Systems Book Store

This sequel to the highly successful Designing Maps, offers a graphics-intensive presentation of published maps, providing cartographic examples that GIS users can then adapt for their own needs. Each chapter characterizes a common design decision and includes a demonstration map, which is annotated with specific information needed to reproduce the design, such as text fonts, sizes and styles; line weights, colors, and patterns; marker symbol fonts, sizes, and colors; and fill colors and patterns. Visual hierarchies and the purpose of each map are considered with the audience in mind, drawing a clear connection between intent and design. The book also includes a valuable task index that explains what ArcGIS 9 tools to use for desired cartographic effects. From experienced cartographers to those who make GIS maps only occasionally, all GIS users will find this book to be an indispensable resource.

Customer Reviews & Comments
As an experienced GIS user with no formal education in geography/cartography, I found this book to be right down my alley. It's highly visual, but this is no coffee table book - the text actually explains the choices presented to mapmakers, and you get a sense for what works in which situations. Each of the six sections addresses a particular broad category of map (reference, thematic, special-purpose, etc.), and each has one map that the author has reproduced in four different styles to emphasize different features or optimize for printing. Several other example maps then follow, each with a paragraph to explain some of the techniques used in its production. The book ends with a section that shows how to recreate the effects in the book using ArcMap, which exposed me to features I didn't know existed and lots of new ideas on how to use the familiar dialogs. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a basic feel for how to use GIS software to make maps but doesn't necessarily feel the need to delve into cartographic theory.

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