GIS 3015 Lab 4: Typography

Our fourth Cartographic Skills lab continued our odyssey into using Adobe Illustrator to create maps beyond what could be done with ArcMap alone.  As in the previous lab, this week we worked solely with Illustrator to design our map document.  Our focus this time, however, was typography and proper labeling techniques.  We were given a basic, unlabeled map of the Marathon region of the Florida Keys and were required to label the keys, cities, bodies of water and additional selected features.  We were given no further limitations on how to complete the task other than to follow basic labeling and typographic guidelines.  On the contrary, we were encouraged to be creative with our map as long as these guidelines were followed.

I must say, however, that this map proved to be frustrating to label.  The geography of the keys make consistent, clear labeling difficult.  For example, the narrow keys allow for few labels to be placed within the island outlines, yet I did not want to place all the labels over water with multiple indicator lines radiating in every direction.  In hindsight, the latter may have been the better, more consistent option.  Instead, whenever possible I placed the Key labels within the landmass outlines while the remainder were placed over water with indicator lines.  I decided not to use a symbol to denote Key location as I believe the geography makes their extent clear.

Regarding other design choices, I made use of the 'pen' tool to create paths without fill or stroke then used the 'type on a path' tool to create the curved water body labels as well as the labels for Deer Key and Grassy Key.  I used the 'smudge stick' effect on the blue background and a 'canvas' effect over the artboard to make the map more interesting (hopefully without detracting too much from the map itself).  I used the title to experiment with a variety of different effects, settling finally on a combination of feather, outer glow and drop shadow.

Although Illustrator was challenging at first, I am beginning to learn more and enjoy experimenting with different options and effects.  This has become a challenge for me, as I probably spent too much time playing with different effects without much improvement in the final map.  As I learn more, I hope to become more efficient with the program.