Map Design Final Project Up and Running

My final project has been posted to http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/project1.html. I had a lot of fun with this one, and am pretty happy with how it has turned out! I may make some additional tweaks before Wednesday's class, but the link should not change. Here's hoping everything is up and running on Wednesday.

Last Lab

Lab 10--the final lab :-) has been posted to the folowing link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/lab10.html.

I used the image I plan on using for my final project (an IRS ResourceSat satellite image of the Chesapeake Bay) to start fine-tuning how I will get my final project to work. I again had problems with buttons--the only ones I could get to work properly were the pre-made Flash ones, and the ones I already had made in previous labs. I also experimented with using portions of the image as the "button" to zoom into that area of the image, but I could not get it to work. I will keep fiddling with it when I work on the project. The camera tool worked very well--I was impressed with how easy it was to make a "movie" using the pre-made file.

Tufte Articles

Tufte's articles (Data Density and Small Multiples; and Aesthetics) provide great insight into map design, even though they are more concerned with how to present numerical data. His main point in the Data Density article is how to show a lot of data in a small space. In order to keep this balance, he asserts that it is best to present a summary of your data in a graphic since it helps keep it simple. He also touches on the importance/limitations of how the particular graphic will be printed or resized in publication as this can have a bearing on how the product is designed.

The Aesthetics article again asserts simplicity--that it is best to show complex data in a simple format. He highlights the importance of adding words and text to pictures and graphics, and discusses design elements such as the importance of using thin lines/borders, and to utilize the horizontal horizon effect for long data sets and lines.

Lab9

I finally got Lab9 up and running! It can be found at the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/stub.html. From here, you can get to my four maps. Since my first one was of Malta, my remaining maps are all of Malta to keep up the theme, so that it became, more or less, a Malta map site. I had some trouble with the loading screen/animation. I could not get the triangle to move along with the loading no matter how I tried it. I even tried a motion tween, but it did not seem to work. I'm just happy that the percentages and number of bytes went up as it loaded.

I also had some trouble with the "home" button actually. I tried to make one using just the word "home", but it didn't seem to work no matter how I tweaked it. I finally switched to an already-made button in the Flash Library and it worked on my first try! I am happy with how easy it was to keep the interactivity on all 4 maps--just by changing the basemaps and naming each instance "myMap", I was able to keep the zoom/pan on all maps with no changes in the coding.

Lab 8

My Lab 8 has been posted to the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/Lab8.html. I had trouble getting the up, down, left, right coding to work properly. I finally just copied the coding that was used for the zoom in/out buttons, except that I changed the button names, and changed it from _xscale/_yscale to _x/_y. It seems to work and gets the job done.

Another issue with this one is that all the objects on the stage (buttons, titles, etc.) "move" with the pan and zooming so that they eventually end up on the map itself, making it hard to read. It would be great if there was a way to "lock" the other objects or the map so that it is the only thing that moves. Otherwise, this process worked suprisingly well.

Lab 7

Lab 7 has been posted to the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/lab7.html. The hardest part of this one was getting the splash screen to work properly. I did the scene method, but since it made the spash screen scene 2 by default, it always played the map first then the flash screen. I found that I had to rename/rearrange the scenes under the scene panel (visible under "other panels" in the Window tab. I also found that script assist works well in coding the play button on the spash screen to play frame 1 of the second scene, as long as you pick under the arrow button next to Scene in script assist. I spent a long time trying to code it based on scene number, but it didn't work.

The link and rollover effects were very easy to get to work, and add a whole new dimension to the project. I also added in sounds again (I love using sound clips). Hope you enjoy them!

Unique Visualization

I was intrigued by the aerial image visualization on the site. A screenshot of it is provided above. Its actual location is at the following link: http://www.ittc.ku.edu/wlan/index.shtml. The site also describes this project--how the designers used aerial photography and interpolation techniques to visualize wireless signal strength. As a person with remote sensing imagery background, I find this visualization particuarly interesting since it functions as both a map and as an image. I like the straightforward color scheme, and the transparancy effect so that you can see the ground underneath. It symbolizes the invisible nature of a wireless signal quite well. With the street labels and detailed image basemap, it would be easy to use as a reference map to find the best place to get a signal.

However, it also has some flaws, notably that it does not precisely state the location of the map. I will assume that it is in Kansas somewhere because of who made the map, but I can't be sure without it mentioned. Also, the color scheme would probably not work for multiple wireless towers since it would likely create a cluttered map with too many contrasting colors. While it works well showing one, it would probably not work well when showing many in a small space. Lastly, the designers could have moved their watermark/label to the bottom of the map. While I can see they want the credit, its current location distracts the viewer and makes it difficult to focus on the map. Either shrinking it down, or moving it to the lower-left corner away from the legend would help.

Lab 6

My Lab 6 has been posted to the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/lab6.html. This one was a lot easier than the last one, since it was tweaking what was already there. The polygon tween was easy to do once I figured out what had to be done. I also changed my timeline around a little from the last one to make it more interactive. I am proud of how the "moving tank caret" in the timeline worked out when I did a motion tween. I hope you enjoy it!

Lab 5

Lab 5 has been posted to the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/lab5.html. The animation portion was suprisingly easy to get to work once you have the procedure down pat. The hardest part of this lab was interpolating the old map with the new boundaries map. I had to guess at the location of many cities in order to orient the troop paths on the new map. I also needed to use a lot of cities as reference points for this, so the basemap looks a little cluttered. I also used modern flags as my troop symbols to go with the modern boundaries map, even though the actual flags were different during WWII. I got errors initially when I went to my uploaded project link, but you should be able to see it if you add it to your trusted sites. It also takes some time to load, perhaps because it is a big file.

I have also included a screenshot of how the map looks in case you cannot get it to load.

Lab 4

Lab 4 is posted to the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/Lab4.html. I had a lot of trouble getting the scripting right for this assignment--I just couldn't get the syntax/spacing right. I finally found that the best way to get this script to turn out was to copy/paste from the digital version of the assignment on WebCT. This worked great and made things much easier. I tried using shades of purple in my map, but based on the shade I chose, and the alpha values, it looks more like shades of gray so it is not the most colorful of maps. I will try a more vibrant shade next time around to hopefully get a more visually appealing map. I am so pleased with how easy it is to add sounds to a Flash file, that I added sound to this one too (a 35 second exerpt of "Hail to the Chief"). I hope you like it!

Lab 3

Here is my link to Lab 3: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/Lab%203.html. This lab was much easier than the last one. I was impressed with how easy it was to put in sounds--all I needed to do was drag and drop, and the system did the rest. The timeline portion, however was painful regarding the size/placement of the buttons. 21 separate weeks makes for a long and complicated timeline that was difficult to fit properly on the stage. Consequently, I had to make the buttons (and text) very small, so it is hard to read.

Timeline Map

I found an interesting timeline at http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/imperial-history.html

This map details the imperial history of the Middle East--which empire controlled which area at a given time in history. One can choose to just "play" the movie, but you can also click a different portion of the timeline to play from that era on. It would be better if it did a "goto and stop" there, but you can have this same effect if you click on the portion of the timeline you want, then hit "pause" to admire the map of that era.

What makes this timeline interesting is that, in addition to being able to click on different times, it also has a rollover effect providing a name for the era. For example, on the screenshot included here, when you select the year 1187, the text "Saladin's Empire" appears when you roll the cursor over this year. This gives you an era name as well as the year to help provide more information and history. It is a simple map, but it helps provide a summary history of the Middle Eastern Empires.

Lab 2

My Flash map for Lab 2 has been posted to the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/Lab%202.html.

There were some difficult portions of the lab. If anyone is using Flash CS3 (latest version) to work on this, it looks like you will also need to include the AC_RunActiveContent file with the html and the swf files. If you need the AC_RunActiveContent file, you can get it from http://www.adobe.com/devnet/activecontent/articles/devletter.html as a patch. The hardest part of the lab was getting the actionscript to work right--make sure you turn on Script Assist. You have to manually select it (I didn't know this so I tried to put the commands in without it). It did not work well, so script assist makes it much easier.

Interesting Interactive Map

This is an interesting interactive map that is useful for travel planning. The interactive version is available at http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/routemap_dyn.html. It appears to have been made using Flash because of the option to upload Flash Player in order to view it. It was made by Southwest Airlines to detail where they fly--you can roll your mouse over an airport to see a flight path of where they go from that airport. You can even sort the routes by nonstop service, or any service, including connections. I have included a screenshot of the interactive map above (with the service available from Washington Dulles clicked). For the interactive version, you can visit the above link.

Because the site uses the rollover effect rather than clicking the mouse, it is difficult to "lock" the airport you want to look at. This is especially problematic when two airports are close together (Washington Dulles and BWI for example). While looking at one, if the mouse moves a little bit, it then shows the other airport routes. This map could be improved if there was a clickable option to lock the aiport you would like to view.

Lab 1 Map

The Lab 1 Map I put together is above. It is interesting that some of the "Super Tuesday" states only do one party election on that day (either Democratic or Republican). For the purposes of the map, any state that has any primary activity on "Super Tuesday" has been considered a "Super Tuesday" state. The other states in the legend have already had their primaries. I actually had some trouble exporting the html--it kept "cutting off" the image. I was able to fix this by selecting "Full Document Size" on the jpeg export screen in Flash.

Interesting Political Map

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10927120

This is a fascinating interactive map put together by MSNBC detailing the political situation in Latin America. One can click on a particular country to receive a brief profile of the country's current leader, the election history, and his/her political platform. The main purpose of this map is to show how there as been a leftward political shift in the region. Some of the countries displayed are not interactive, perhaps because data is missing or because the leftward shift has not occurred in these countries. However, the designers have effectively marked the countries that are non-interactive by graying them out so that they cannot be clicked. This is a great interactive and graphical way to keep track of current events in Latin America. A screenshot of the map, with Brazil "clicked" is shown above. To obtain the true effect of this map, it is best to visit the link above.

About my links

http://imagesearch.geoeye.com. This is a satellite imagery archive search site that allows you to see what satellite imagery GeoEye has collected over specific areas. It is designed to show what imagery is available for purchase, but its detailed base map and low-resolution image samples allow you to easily see a snapshot of what the area looks like both on a map and as a satellite image.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/. This is a website for the map collection available at the University of Texas Austin. They offer a wide range of free downloadable political, physical, and thematic maps for locations around the world.

http://www.mapquest.com/. This is a great site for actually using maps as a travel planner. In addition to being able to provide free maps of a specific area, it also includes a detailed driving directions between two points and a gas prices database based on location. I use this site every time I am planning a trip.

Hi! Welcome to my Map Design course Blog! This is my first time blogging, so it is a work in progress and will hopefully improve as I go along. Enjoy!