Cartography Creations

Final Projects

2009-05-07T05:49:00.001-07:00

Whew.
Here's my final project tracing how members of the 2007 World Series Red Sox got to be world champs. Enjoy!

Just for fun:
Here's a really interesting visualization of how the Red Sox won the AL East that year too.

Lab 10

2009-04-16T05:51:00.000-07:00

Here are the 2 images from lab 10. The first image is from June, 2004 before an earthquake occurred in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

This image is from December, 2004 and shows that there has been significant damage to the coastlines, roads, and bridges.

Lab 9

2009-04-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

In lab 9 we used Google sketch up to create 3d models of 3 different buildings at Mason. I find it difficult to learn how all of the tools work together within a week, but now at least I have enough knowledge of how it works to be able to expand upon it.

Lab 8

2009-04-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

In lab 8 we did a bunch of different exercises to familiarize ourselves with Google Earth. While very useful for providing quick geographical context to any subject, Google Earth cripples my computer.

Lab 7

2009-04-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

The completion of Operation Barbarossa!

3D Mapping and Modeling

2009-03-30T18:15:00.001-07:00

3D mapping uses depth as a visual variable to illustrate a phenomena. This can be used in representing elevation and the earth's surface (think Google Earth), or can be used in thematic mapping. Here are a few examples:

(click on the picture to view the map source)

Illustrating a Map to 3D

In this interactive example historical maps are brought to life using DEM (digital elevation models) and 3D GIS modeling to add depth and realism to the mapped geographical area. On this website you'll find 4 different examples that bring these 1800's maps to life. This example of modeling also allows the user to change the perspective of the map, analyzing it from every angle.

Choropleth Map

This map is showing civilian labor force unemployment in 1990. While the effect of the 3D mapping is dynamic on this map, I think the angle at which the map is displayed makes it difficult, however to see the full aspect of the map. You are able to identify the areas of highly concentrated unemployment, but not specific locations or values.

Isoline Map

This map is an example of a 3D map illustrating the elevation in a park. I think this is a better way to use 3D effects than in the first example. This is one of the first and most common uses of 3D mapping and modeling. The color ramp in this map, where the lighter colors are used to show higher elevation, is a typically used color scheme.

Proportional Symbol Map

This map is an example of using volume symbols in thematic mapping. Volume symbols use the height as a visual variable to illustrate the different values within the phenomena being mapped. In this example the symbols were placed onto google earth. The thematic mapping engine, is an online mapping tool which allows users to create maps using volume symbols.

Choropleth Map

This 3D mapping example uses Google earth and sketch up to illustrate median household incomes in Chicago. This map is very clean, and allows the user to easily understand the geographical context, as well as the phenomena being mapped. There is a good use of color in this map that allows the audience to fairly accurately interpret the values while comparing them with each other. Similar to previous examples, this map doesn't provide the user with any specific values.

Lab 6

2009-03-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Here is my link for Lab 6.

Lab 5: A Work In Progress

2009-03-05T00:40:00.000-08:00

My lab 5 is definitely still a work in progress. I still want to tweek the graphics and base map a bit, although I am happy with my army icons. I used AI to illustrate the basemap, which accordingto adobe should transfer over without a problem--but alas, it crashes flash everytime. So, in the next week in addition to adding what we need to for Lab 6 the basics of my map need to be spruced up. I am also going to change the timeline around because I think 12sec=1 day is a bit slow, but where I have it now is too fast.
I also have had to sidestep the instructions because I don't have CS4, so I don't have the fancy motion editor like in the SOP.
I foresee myself spending a fair amount of time on this over spring break--in order to get results I am happy with.

Democratic Elections: Lab 4

2009-02-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

Lab 4
In this lab we created a "faux-GIS" interface that allows a user to layer different versions of a map and information on top of one another. This lab was particulary difficult, although the importance of accuracy when naming layers/symbols is continually stressed. The most challenging part is getting the action script written correctly. I wish that I had been able to insert text boxes or roll over boxes for each year that would contain general election information (canidates and winner). I struggled with this for a while, but with limited knowledge of action script I couldn't incoorperate this without applying the 20% alpha to the text box/information graphic while allowing the check box to turn this information on and off with the map.

Cardinals: Journey to the Super Bowl

2009-02-19T00:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a revised version of lab 2...Lab 3with a timeline of the weeks of football played. I think I finally getting the hang of flash, action scripting and understanding how it works. More than making the timeline, fixing what was wrong with my lab 2 took me the most time.

Lab 2...Finally.

2009-02-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

Here's my lab 2!

The Reshaping of America

2009-02-16T20:51:00.001-08:00

Richard Florida's article, "The Reshaping of America", which addresses the current economic crisis and how it affects different geographies. Accompanying this article is an interactive map which illustrate economic changes and patterns in different regions through the form of patents, income, and population throughout history. Not only is it a great example of a timeline map, but also demonstrates the importance of economic geography and regional studies in our current economic crisis.

The Learning Curve

2009-02-05T01:39:00.000-08:00

Here's my image for lab 1. Flash seems pretty straight forward, but there is always a learning curve. After spending quite a bit of time with Illustrator I am left wondering how to actually make your graphics interesting and complex when using Flash.

Weekly Map

2009-02-05T01:32:00.001-08:00

This map is an animation displaying the imperial history of the Middle East. Its a good example because it shows a progression through time as well as showing the location of important events in history.

Time Space Map

2009-01-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

So, I think this is a awesome map...
This map links pictures, videos, and new stories throughout inauguration day with the location and time of where they occurred. Washington Post has dubbed it a 'Time Space Map,' and it allows you to navigate through the day by sliding a bar at the bottom to see what was happening at each hour. The inauguration version also shows where Barack Obama was at each hour. The Post has also produced time space maps from election day and a daily version for world events.

Final Project

2008-12-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

For more information:

USPTO Online Database: used to collect the data on patents and their corresponding invention and assignment states.
US Census Regions Map: provides a simple map of how the US Census regions are divided.
USPTO General Information Concerning Patents: Answers basic questions about patents including defining patent assignment, patent laws, and how patents are awarded.
An Introduction to the Law and Economics of Intellectual Property: an article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, which offers a good overview to how the patenting system promotes innovation.
The Geographic Sources of Innovation: an article by Richard Florida from the Annals of American Geographers which, in part, details why innovation is important and what factors promote a successful innovative economy.

Lab 10

2008-11-20T00:53:00.001-08:00

Lab 9: Web vs. Print

2008-11-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

Here's the image for my Lab 9 map. In printing at home on a color jet the colors came out great, except for the fact it created a couple of arbitrary lines that split the color in the background. There was a line at the bottom, on one side a darker shade of the green and on the other a lighter. In my AI document there was nothing that I could find to explain this. I think that the darker color was the actual fill of my background. Aside from that, the printed copy looked great--actually, I was very surprised that they came out as I had envisioned and as the digital copy looked. I was very happy with the color ramping--I choosing the colors I did because I wanted to not only make the larger percentages stand out, but also the lower values, because they are just as significant within my data set. I also printed out the image in the lab using the color laser jet printer, in which the colors came out dramatically different. They were much, much darker and muted than they are in the digital copy giving the map an entirely different feel.

Housing in MD

2008-11-12T19:35:00.001-08:00

Here's my image for Lab 8:

Choropleth Maps & Classification Schemes

2008-10-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

Here are my two choropleth maps: one classified into quintiles, the other equal interval. Unfortuetly, visually there didn't seem to be much of a difference in these two classification schemes, and I presumed there would be. Looking at the raw data, the second lowest class in equal interval has 4 more states in this than quintiles. If the data had been more varied this would make a large difference; sending states into other classes, and changing the overall visual appearance of the map. If I had chosen 3 or 4 classification schemes instead I think that the difference in the two schemes would have been more apparent. In retrospect, I would have choosen a fewer number of classes.

Choropleth Maps

2008-10-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is a map I found on CNN, showing how much fundraising was done in each state throughout the country in the 2008 Presidential Election and Primaries. I thought it was neat because you can also look at each county in each state and sort by every candidate to see exactly how much was raised. Not only is it a great example of a choropleth map, but also a great interactive map that allows you to store and show a large amount of data. Check out the site where I found this map to see the full extent: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/

Dots!

2008-10-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

I completely forgot to post Lab 6 last Thursday, but here it is:

Overall, I am really happy with the way it turned out. I wished that I had had a base map without county lines so that I could have made the county boundaries a lighter gray and the state outline black. Other than that it was just tedious creating and placing all of the dots.

Lab 5: VA, DC, MD

2008-10-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Dot Density Map Examples

2008-10-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 dot density maps from one of my classes lectures. They're obviously not PC (note the date of the census) but they are pretty classic examples of dot density maps.

A Cool Historical Map of Virginia, Maryland, DC (and Delaware too!)

2008-10-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a cool map I found of MD, VA, DC, and DE. The full title is: Map of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Exhibiting the Post Offices, Post Roads, Canals, Rail Roads, &c. By David H. Burr. (Late Topographer to the Post Office.) Geographer to the House of Representatives of the U.S. John Arrowsmith. Entered ... July 10th, 1839, by David H. Burr ... District of Columbia.

I know the image is small, but if you go here you can see it and it enables you to zoom in and see the great detail and artistic discipline that went into creating this map.

Lab 4 Type

2008-10-02T01:47:00.001-07:00

Labeling & Type

2008-09-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

I found a great map with a good use of type placement, font, color, etc in the Fairfax County's GIS & Mapping: Map Gallery. The map shows Fairfax County's Elementary Schools and their appropriate districts. It's a in a PDF format, so I can't save it as picture, but here's the link.

Mollweide

2008-09-24T20:29:00.001-07:00

Here's my graphic for Lab 3, Mollweide projection. This was not quite as difficult as I had suspected, but it did take a few tries to get the measurements correct.

Projections, oh my!

2008-09-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Projections are my least favorite thing about geography. It just seems there are ENDLESS possibilities, and none are the perfect solution. I don't like the run around. None the less I hit the internet to find an exciting map projection. In my wandering I found a cool blog called the Map Room. I found an article that was in the magazine Mental_Floss, called "3 Controversial Maps." I thought this one was interesting for my projection post because it illustrates the main problems that occur with translating a sphere to a flat surface.

Check out the article here for the other 2 'controversial' maps included in the article along with a full explanation of this one.

Interesting Map...a little late.

2008-09-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

I found this map while clicking around on various geography related sites. This is a map of the results from the 2004 US Presidential Election. This first map is a very generic version of the results, red representing state where a majority of the voters cast a ballot for republican. Blue represents where a majority of the voters who voted democratic.The map below tries to represent the raw data more accurately*, where purple represents counties where only a slim majority voted republican. I thought this was a good illustration of no only how data can be represented in different ways through a map, but also how changing the scale you are representing can change the overall impact of a map.
On this website they also do some cool things with cartograms, check it out here.
*This is my interpurtation of the map, others map think that it could be more inaccurate...

Geiod? Ellipsoid? Sphere?

2008-09-16T23:23:00.000-07:00

Illustration for Lab 2:

Geography Links

2008-09-08T21:19:00.001-07:00

Here are some links that I find useful:

Map Projections

I like this website because it contains all of the information you could ever want to know about map projections. This is not because I particularly like map projections, actually it's quite the contrary. I find that they tend to make my head hurt. This website is useful because it goes through all of the different types of projections, what properties they distort/preserve, equations for map projections (that's bound to give me a migraine), and a history of different map projections. I find this useful to refresh and reinforce my knowledge of projections. (Did I mention that this is my least favorite part of geography?)

2000 Census Info

This website, although pretty generic, contains TONS of data that can be used in researching and collecting data for many different maps. Even though as we approach 2010 when we will have an infinite amount of up-to-date data, this is still a great resource. There is also community profile information including income and poverty data through the 2007 American Community Survey.

Victoria Transportation Encyclopedia

I have found this useful because I have an interest within the geography field in urban planning. This online encyclopedia is published and maintained by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in British Columbia. It includes studies for promoting and achieving more efficient, less congested transportation solutions. The website includes 'strategies to achieve specific objectives' such as congestion reduction, energy conservation, promoting health and fitness, and parking solutions.

Cartography Creations

Final Projects

Lab 10

Lab 9

Lab 8

Lab 7

3D Mapping and Modeling

Lab 6

Lab 5: A Work In Progress

Democratic Elections: Lab 4

Cardinals: Journey to the Super Bowl

Lab 2...Finally.

The Reshaping of America

The Learning Curve

Weekly Map

Time Space Map

Final Project

Lab 10

Lab 9: Web vs. Print

Housing in MD

Choropleth Maps & Classification Schemes

Choropleth Maps

Dots!

Lab 5: VA, DC, MD

Dot Density Map Examples

A Cool *Historical* Map of Virginia, Maryland, DC (and Delaware too!)

Lab 4 Type

Labeling & Type

Mollweide

Projections, oh my!

Interesting Map...a little late.

Geiod? Ellipsoid? Sphere?

Geography Links

A Cool Historical Map of Virginia, Maryland, DC (and Delaware too!)