Module 4 - Land Partitioning Systems & Cartographic Design

I really enjoyed this week's first part of the lecture, "Land Partitioning Systems". At my current job, I run a few legal descriptions of land properties on a monthly basis -- so I'm familiar with Sections, Townships, and Ranges. However, I have never been given a formal background explanation as to how all of this "land demarcation" came about. Basically, I was just taught to run legals and then bring in the boundary into ArcMap -- but I've always wanted to know the who, why, how and when. As a recap, some of the neat things I learned were about metes and bounds, long lots, arpents, spanish land grants, and the U.S. Public Land Survey (which was executed by Thomas Jefferson back in the late 1700s).

The second part of this week's lecture focused on the "Cartographic Design Process" -- this is the methodology of conceiving and creating a well-designed map that suits the needs of the users. So for our lab assignment, we applied Gestalt's principles of perceptual organization, which represents theoretical foundations of cartographic design rules and conventions. The building blocks of Gestalt's principles consist of: Visual Hierarchy, Contrast, Figure-Ground, and Visual Balance.

I made my map using ArcMap. Some of the tools I used to properly display data, per the lab instructions were: the Clipping Tool, Data Frame Extent Indicator, Definition Queries, Selection By Location, Converting Labels to Annotation, Data Export, Add Field in the Attribute Table, Start an Edit Session, drew Splined Text, use of Halos, Symbology using Category Unique Values, and more. More importantly, I applied the following Gestalt principles:

1. I implemented visual hierarchy in my map by emphasizing thematic symbols and de-emphasizing base information. For example, the "school type" symbols are ranked according to their relative importance (elementary, middle, and high).
2. I achieved adequate contrast in my map by strategically using different colors, sizes, and fonts to distinguish features from one another. For example, I made sure the colors of the Anacostia River, park features, and street lines were subtle in comparison to the other major line features and school symbols.
3. I established a figure-ground relationship by accentuating my study area in contrast to its surroundings. Specifically, I made my area of interest lighter, yet used similar color hues in the surrounding DC area.
4. I incorporated visual balance in my final map design by aligning map elements in a clean, organized, symmetrical display. This design layout balances the oddly-shaped Ward 7 polygon by creating equilibrium amongst the other map elements and empty space. I really wanted to incorporate this map design because I feel it truly creates visual harmony and cohesiveness while map reading.