GIS 6005 Lab 1

 For this lab we were asked to polish a map design for a map with displaying recreation information for Travis county in the city of Austin. My finished product.

Explain how you addressed each of the five map design principles:  Visual contrast: I chose a white background to create contrast between the background and the map. I chose a light beige base color for the underlying county polygon to create contrast with the map layer symbology. I also made sure that the colors of the layer symbology's were not competing with each other, Legibility: The white background enhances text legibility. When choosing the type, I went with the combination of Franklin Gothic Demi and Baskerville Old Face, which I find complimentary and easy to read. Figure-Ground Organization: Sticking with the minimalist theme I have used for this map, I added an additional fill layer with a donut effect on the county polygon border to create more separation between the background and the map elements. Hierarchical Organization: I built the layers in order of importance: white background, light map element base color them onto the symbology for each of the layers, golf course….which are the main focus of the map. Balance: I placed the main map in the center of the layout, I centered the title above that and the placed the legend, and the orientation/scale to each side of the lower portion of the map. Lastly, I added the source and creator info to the bottom of the map layout. There are no large areas of negative space, and the elements are distributed evenly to maintain balance.