In one of many assignments I've been entangled with lately, the tutorial series: Cartographic Creations in ArcGIS Pro happened to be a prominent one. The tutorial guides users through designing professional and visually appealing maps. It covers the entire cartographic process, from creating and symbolizing data to arranging map layouts and exporting them. Key steps include:
- Data Preparation: Importing and preparing spatial data to align with the map's purpose.
- Symbology: Applying effective symbology to enhance data visualization, including custom styles for features like ice extents or ocean regions.
- Labeling: Using labeling techniques, including stacking, conflict resolution, and converting labels to annotation for precise adjustments.
- Layouts: Designing map layouts with elements like legends, titles, and charts, ensuring balanced visual hierarchy.
- Exporting: Optimizing maps for print or digital platforms with proper resolution and format settings.
The tutorials emphasize thoughtful design choices to communicate geographic information clearly while maintaining aesthetic appeal. My resulting map is as shown below.
You can explore the tutorials in-depth on Learn ArcGIS but that is not where I'm going, the challenge was to change the colour scheme and text to my preferences. As simple as it sounds, it took me the next hour after completing the tutorial series. This is not because I didn't know what to do, but because I like to cook! First, I took my time to visit W3School's color picker tool and shop for my favourite bluish colors. As follows:
Ice decline Gradient: #FFFFFF > #3AEBCE > #0070FFOcean background: #BEE8FF
Countries: #E7FFFF
Labels and texts: #00A9E6
Chart series line: #444F89
Chart guide line: #004DA8
Chart texts, grid and axis: #00A9E6
Graticule: #CCEBCE
Inset Map 2012 outline: #004DA8
Index Years outline: #00A9E6
Arctic Circle: #00A9E6
I indeed attempted to create a blue themed map following the same approach in the tutorial. I sticked with the original texts since I don't really know much about Arctic Sea ice, and the significance outside what I learnt in the tutorial.
In the end, my resulting map looks similar to the initial map except that everything is now blue. Also, the countries symbol and the ocean background seem to have very low contrast in the resulting blue map just as I want it. The absense of a scale bar and north arrow in the maps is noteworthy, and I think it makes sense because of the projection and the current map scale and the North is exactly at the center of the map. It also doesn't include the author and date of creation (one sure thing it was created before writing this post :D ). The inset map is beautiful, but I don't fully see its purpose given the current extent, its only there because sometimes, I just like to follow simple instructions. Nevertheless the resulting map succeeded in showing the ice regions and intuitively demonstrating the decline.
Author
Bamidele Clement Oke
Esri Certified GIS Analyst/Developer
Esri Certified GIS Analyst with extensive experience in both government and private sectors, providing innovative geospatial solutions. Currently, I'm pursuing a double master's degree with a focus on Geovisualization and Geocommunication. When I'm not making maps, I'm either designing apps and sites like this one, playing with my son, doing some DIY stuff, or eating something made with beans. Need geospatial insights or just want to chat about GIS? I'm your map whisperer!
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