Module 3: Cartographic Design

      For Module 3, we were to create a map that represents the public schools in District 7 of Washington D.C. in order to demonstrate what we have learned about Gestalt’s Principles of perceptual organization including the principles of visual hierarchy, contrast, figure ground, and balance.  The map above was created entirely in ArcMap following the provided lab instructions and guidelines from the textbook. I did not have much trouble creating this map, as our instructions were pretty straightforward and I felt confident in my understanding of what we learned in this module. My main challenge was choosing an appropriate color scheme for the land feature on the map. I decided to go with variable shades of green, because it is of high contrast to the map symbols for the schools so it makes them stand out nicely. I also decided to go with green because I felt that it made sense to make a land feature green. When it came to organizing the essential map elements on the map, it really just took me a lot of playing around with the layout of the elements on the page until I came up with a map that I felt followed Gestalt’s principles and was visually pleasing while effectively conveying the message of representing the locations of public schools in District 7.