GIS3015 - Cartographic Skills - Student Spotlight

Instructor: Mrs. Penelope Bishop Mitchell

Module 2: Introduction to CartoGraphic Design with Adobe Illustrator

Lab Overview: Module 2’s lab assignment reinforced introductory map design concepts learned in the previous week by allowing students to draft their first map of the class.  The assignment involved creating a basic map of Florida for a children’s encyclopedia.  However, the difficulty of the task  was related to learning and using graphic design software Adobe Illustrator to leverage the map content generated by ArcMap to create a publishable quality end product.

Learning Outcomes:

• Create and export a map from ArcGIS  
• Examine the basic Ai tools  
• Utilize Ai Help Features  
• Add/change basic map elements in Ai  
• Utilize script to improve Ai functionality  
• Demonstrate competency in Ai  
• Summarize and present lab activities and outcomes

And the First 2017 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARD goes to...

Melissa Thrush! Melissa nailed this assignment with her effective map design and attention to detail, thus showing proficiency with graphic design software Adobe Illustrator.  

Melissa is a new student in the Certificate program. She is currently in her first two courses. Melissa effectively ran the provided script in Ai to replace all ArcMap generated city symbols.  She also used the drop shadow tool on the state of Florida so the mapped content would pop out of the page.  She correctly displayed Florida’s surface water with intuitive color choices and ensured clear and correct legend presentation. The map frame line and background color do a great job complimenting map content and map space is effectively utilized within the frameline with map element placement and size.  Lastly, Melissa ensured quick and easy data acquisition with her user friendly scale bar.  Well done Melissa!! Keep up the good work! 

Follow Melissa's progress at her student blog: http://melissathrush.blogspot.com/