Event Mapmaking

How to get a guest to your event without giving them the scenic tour of town.

Diego Quintana
Shire of the Shadowlands
Aug 25th 2001.
Revised Dec 8th, 2002.

Who, What, Why, Where, When?

What is the purpose of an event map?

“Travel depends on the ancient skill of navigation--the ability to find a way from one place to another and back. Columbus was not sure how far he had to go. In his journal he recorded his latitude observations and estimates of distance traveled underreporting this distance to the crew, ‘lest the trip be long.’” [2]

Therefore, an ideal event map would get people from their house to the gate of your event, without any outside reference, or those people having known anything about the area or route beforehand.

However, that is a lot to ask of a 2”x2” to 4”x4” map printed in the newsletter.

Who will use the map?

There are two things to consider: First, how much the user will know about the subject matter? Second, how much map reading experience will the user have?

Since we are usually limited by space, we need to assume some things. We hope that they can find themselves into the city that the event is in.

Unfortunately, most people are not skilled in reading a map. That is why a great event map is clear and concise, but contains enough information to get the user to the event.

Different people navigate in different ways. Some methods are: Landmarks, distances and headings, highway and road signs, or intuition. Good navigators use a combination of these methods. You event map would ideally contain enough information for each type of navigator.

What data is available for the composition of the map?

If commercial atlas, street maps, CD-ROM, or web maps include your event’s area, your battle is halfway won. However, sometimes this isn’t the case, and you job is much harder.

Of an oft-neglected source of information is the real world. Get out there and measure distances with your odometer, look at the actual street signs, and count the streetlights.

What resources do you have to create your map?

Ideally, you would have a fully equipped cartographer’s computer workstation. Most of us don’t. Even if you have access to a computer, quality mapping software is an item most people do not tend to have.

However, excellent results may be obtained with the simple drawing or paint packages included in most office productivity suites.

If you don’t have access to a computer, all you need is some pens and pencils, a ruler, paper, and maybe a light table (or tracing paper), and some city maps. If you aren’t good at drawing things, or depicting information visually, you may seek the assistance of someone who is. You don’t have to be an artist.

Cartographic Topics

Level of detail

You can never have too much detail. Addendum: You have too much detail when you can’t read you map after its been photocopied and printed in the kingdom newsletter. You also have too much detail when items obscure the purpose of you map—which is to get visitors to your event.

Orientation

There is a tradition of north being towards the top of the map. As with most rules, you can break them for good reasons. A good reason may be that the town is not oriented on a north/south grid, and you don’t wish to waste space with diagonal lines. Be sure to indicate north, in any case! At the very least, try to keep north within 90 degrees up the top of the page.

Symbols

An excellent symbol reference is available [3]. Also refer to the following:

Line widths and styles

As with fonts, don’t overuse line widths and styles. You can use line widths to indicate the difference between highways and streets.

Labels

As with most graphic arts, don’t overuse font styles, faces, and sizes. Use different fonts and sizes only when you have a reason to do so.

Preferred lettering positions on a point:

A circle numbered from one to four, starting in the upper-right corner and moving clockwise by corners.

Street and highway labels should follow the line of the feature. [4]

The line of the words for street names follow the directions of the streets themselves, rather than crossing at angles.

Distortion

A map is both a simplification and distortion of reality. It is your job as a cartographer to as simple as possible to accomplish the task, but keep distortion to a minimum.

Context

Similar to scale, context is that which surrounds your map. A reader of you map should be able to place it into the context of another map (street map, etc.) without too much trouble.

Map Scales

In selecting a map scale, you choose how large of an area and how much detail within that area you can depict. Most event maps will be large-scale maps, showing a smaller area and greater detail.

If possible, indicate the map scale by showing a convenient unit. For example, display a line that is 2 miles long and label it as such.

Some tips:

It may help to assume that people can find their way to the general vicinity of the event. However, if your town is very small, give distance and bearing from major cities. For example: Make your best way to Tuscola, TX (20 miles south of Abilene). You can also depict the distances to larger cities on your map.
If your site is in the country, it is imperative to give proper distances. You may also wish to rely more on landmarks for giving directions.
Likewise, if your event is in a township in the shadow of a larger metropolitan area, you may wish to refer to the more populated area. For example: The event will be held at the Littleton Civic Center, 12 miles southwest of the Denver metropolitan area. Remember: Just because you are familiar with the metropolis doesn’t mean that your visitors will be.
Don’t make the scale too small: IE, don’t depict the entire state of Texas. Try to concentrate on the town or general vicinity for a larger city.
Include at least one major highway that people may take into the area. Even better, include one for each major direction. Be sure to differentiate between state highways and interstates.
If your route includes a tollway, be sure to mention this in the directions and annotate on the map. Ideally, include an alternate route. Remember, some visitors may have never driven on a tollway and may not be familiar with the process. Perhaps include an estimate of the toll for your route.
Our nation’s highway system suffers from non-standardization as far as exits, over/underpasses, and bypass/feeder roads are concerned. Don’t assume that your visitor is familiar with your area's styles of highway exits. If they have to exit to the right, and cross the overpass to the left in order to get to your event, say so. For even more odd exits, give details. Note if your visitor has to overshoot the site and backtrack on a one-way feeder road to get to the site.
Construction! Give a heads up on any detours or lane closings that a driver may have to be aware of.
Annotate the exit before and after the intended exit on a highway, so that the visitor is ready for their exit, and so that they can tell if they overshoot. The same principal applies to street turns. Give your visitors enough information so that they know for certain when they are at their turn.
If there is a highway exit number, indicate it on your map and directions.
Roads may have several names, and different maps may use these names differently. If possible, indicate all names on your map or directions. Give precedence the name road name that is listed on road signs. Don’t assume—get out there and look!
GPS: Find someone in your group that has a GPS unit, and ask him or her to acquire the coordinates for your site. Publish those coordinates along with the map and directions. Some computer CD-ROM mappings tools and some websites also can give you GPS coordinates for a point. GPS coordinates are very useful for sites that are in far from landmarks or populated areas. But these coordinates should be an addition, not the only form of directions given.

Publishing

As mentioned above, if your map is destined for printing in a newsletter, make sure it is readable after photocopying and reducing to the size it will appear in the final publication.

If your map will be placed on a website, you may provide a higher-resolution map with a greater level of detail. Color usage is great, but be aware that most people will be printing out the map, and not everyone has access to a color printer. Some black and white printers will print yellow as white, etc.

Testing

The most overlooked aspect of event mapmaking and direction-writing is user testing. Give the map and directions to some who has never visited the site and ideally is not familiar with the area. Have them navigate from the passenger seat while a driver attempts to drive to the site. Encourage the driver to only do what the navigator tells them to do (IE, we don’t want the driver’s experience to ruin the test).

Sit in the back seat and take notes. You are not allowed to speak to the driver or navigator. Don’t give clues, hints, make noises, etc. By having the navigator talk to the driver, you can get an idea of what the navigator is thinking.

Repeat the test with another navigator, this time using a street map in addition to your map. From your notes, fix any problems you might have noticed in your map. Repeat the test. Hmm, now where do you get all of these test subjects? Good question! At the very least, use your own directions and attempt to drive to the site. Verify that mileages and directions and street names are all correct.

If your event is at a site that you use frequently, ask people at gate when they arrive how they found the site. Ask them if they relied on the map, the directions, or other means of finding your site.

Sources:

1 - Maps and Mapmaking Tutorials, The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies:
http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/isite/LotsOLinks/MapsAndMapmaking.htm

2 - USGS Map Lessons: Working With Maps: Navigation
http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/exploremaps_lesson2.htm

3 - Topographic symbol reference
http://mac.usgs.gov/mac/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols/

4 - Kenneth E. Foote and Shannon Crum, Department of Geography, University of Texas at Austin, 1995. Cartographic Communication
http://www.Colorado.EDU/geography/gcraft/notes/cartocom/cartocom_f.html

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