Map layout

(Falkland Islands) incorporates several elements of map layout: a title, a scale bar, a legend, and an inset map. This is a compromise between the fluid and compartmentalized approaches to layout order, with the non-map elements sitting "on top" of the main map. Here, the top-heavy main map is balanced by the non-map elements below. Note the use of a locator inset map and limited additional text about the projection (metadata) and sovereignty dispute (explanatory), all appropriate for a general audience. The detailed scale bar in two measurement systems facilitates precise distance measurements by an international audience, which may or may not be the intent. Map layout, also called map composition or (cartographic) page layout, is the part of cartographic design that involves assembling various map elements on a page. This may include the map image itself, along with titles, legends, scale indicators, inset maps, and other elements. It follows principles similar to page layout in graphic design, such as balance, gestalt, and visual hierarchy. The term map composition is also used for the assembling of features and symbols within the map image itself, which can cause some confusion; these two processes share a few common design principles but are distinct procedures in practice.…

(Falkland Islands) incorporates several elements of map layout: a title, a scale bar, a legend, and an inset map. This is a compromise between the fluid and compartmentalized approaches to layout order, with the non-map elements sitting "on top" of the main map. Here, the top-heavy main map is balanced by the non-map elements below. Note the use of a locator inset map and limited additional text about the projection (metadata) and sovereignty dispute (explanatory), all appropriate for a general audience. The detailed scale bar in two measurement systems facilitates precise distance measurements by an international audience, which may or may not be the intent. Map layout, also called map composition or (cartographic) page layout, is the part of cartographic design that involves assembling various map elements on a page. This may include the map image itself, along with titles, legends, scale indicators, inset maps, and other elements. It follows principles similar to page layout in graphic design, such as balance, gestalt, and visual hierarchy. The term map composition is also used for the assembling of features and symbols within the map image itself, which can cause some confusion; these two processes share a few common design principles but are distinct procedures in practice. Similar principles of layout design apply to maps produced in a variety of media, from large format wall maps to illustrations in books to interactive web maps, although each medium has unique constraints and opportunities. Scale is important to include on a map because it explains the size relationship between map features and the real world. Scale is commonly represented with a scale bar, a representative fraction ("1:100,000"), or a verbal scale ("1 inch = 1 mile"). The preferred type of scale indicator depends on the purpose and audience of the map: a representative fraction is precise, but most of the public does not know what it means; a very precisely marked scale bar is most useful when distance measurements need to be made, but can be overkill when they do not; many general-audience maps, such as web street maps or atlases, use very simple single-division scale bars to simply give a sense of size.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1374210685 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.