Exercise Four: Miriam

The map uses the element of highlighting, by making important locations (Information/Visitor Centres) stand out against the map by the use of a green background against the text. It makes it easy to find for the viewer, the information area is an important location that people want to find fast when they need help. Caps are used to show the main larger areas of land, in this case it is the national park areas. The confusing thing is, is that the colour the map uses to highlight these elements are very similar to each other. The map uses the element of closure as well. The trails are shown as a dashed line, but the mind automatically observes it as a connected line and leads the eye throughout the map. The third element that the map introduces is layering. There are several layers of land and glaciers, or text that form the three-dimensional layering effect. Here they are shown as transparent layers. This map provides general information about the area. If I was going to a National Park, I would want to receive a map with much more detail however, including path systems, elevations, distances. This map just gives an overview of the general key points. It would be hard for anyone to use this map to get anywhere. This map seems to be more of an informational pamphlet, just illustrating the locations and the activities that go on throughout the park. It is good to see that the icons showing bathrooms, telephones, campground are clearly shown because viewers need this fact. This can be based on iconic representation, these images can be easily figured out by anyone because of their simplicity, This map uses similar icons. They are highlighted with a black background with a white illustration making them easier to spot. It’s annoying to see maps with icons with no background, they are too small to identify and that pretty much sucks. The map also gets some bonus points for being done in a normal range of colours, the water is blue, land is green, nothing is done in crazy colours like purple for land instead. The map has many positive views to it but much more negatives however, I just don’t find it detailed enough.