mapmaking patterns

When you define the questions that will make your map DONE NOT DUE, ask yourself: do all of the questions pertain to the same spatial scale?

Thinking through space requires people to think across scales. For example, when planning a trip, a person will need to compare attributes of different regions to figure out where to go. When they make the trip, however, they will need finer details, such as street names, to figure out how to get there.

Identify the scales of thought that your map should support. Rather than trying to make one map that helps people think at all of these scales, design separate maps for each scale of thought.

After you have recognized the different scales of decision-making your map should support, you should think about how to SIMPLIFY THE WORLD at each scale.