GIS 3015 – Cartographic Skills - Student Spotlight

Module 2: Introduction to CartoGraphic Design with Adobe Illustrator

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.

The spotlight this week is Daniella Sabillon! Daniella nailed this assignment by creating a clear and crisp map of Florida using both ArcMap and Adobe Illustrator.  She correctly clipped and displayed Florida’s surface water by category with intuitive color choices.  Daniella effectively ran the provided script in Ai to replace all ArcMap generated city symbols.  Three state images were added to the map, and a drop shadow was utilized to help the content stand apart from the page.  Map space is effectively utilized and the user friendly scale bar promotes quick and easy data acquisition.  Lastly, Daniella’s blog post does an exceptional job introducing the assignment and discussing key skills and processes used to create her map!  Nicely done Daniella!!