One phrase in this Slate Magazine article about hand-drawn maps snagged on my brain–“ruthless editing.”
Sometimes planners love their stuff so much it’s hard to let it go. On a map about bike routes, do you need to show lot lines? Does the boundary line need to appear on every map?
We know we’ll hear what you think about our zoning recommendations, but check out our plans and tell us what you think about our maps.
GK
Its all about communication and audience. The convention of north at the top is one that should be rarely ignored, but for the specific user the map of st louis in the Slate article does the job. One the other hand a beautiful National Geographic map of Eurasia, where the the density of borders and ciites in Europe sits alongside the label “S O V I E T U N I O N” arcing across 10 time zones, and on the a WMATA map for Metro showing just colored lines and stations according to relative, not actual position.
Unfortunately most maps, or more specifically spatial diagrams, need a lot of editing.