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Persuasive maps are ubiquitous in society, yet cartographers have largely neglected to conduct serious, holistic research on them. Persuasive maps represent a form of visual communication that differs markedly from scientific geovisualization. First, many of these maps' communicative goals are anathema to those of scientific representation. Second, many persuasive maps ignore and defy established cartographic conventions. This article argues two things. First, the cartographic discipline can gain insight about how maps communicate information from the longitudinal and holistic analysis of persuasive maps. By comparing the differences and similarities of persuasive maps to scientific geovisualizations, researchers can begin to understand how persuasive maps communicate differently than scientific ones. Second, breaking persuasive maps down into composite parts may make it possible to identify persuasive map norms (i.e., methods of design that are embraced by producers of persuasive maps). The results of a content analysis of 256 persuasive maps are discussed. The article concludes that it may be possible to take the most statistically significant results from this study to begin identifying different rhetorical styles of persuasive maps. Keywords: persuasive maps; rhetorical maps; content analysis; map design, Introduction Cartographers have treated persuasive maps like unwanted stepchildren. Maps that have been created 'with the purpose of eliciting one particular interpretation over others from map readers' (Tyner 1982, 140, [...]

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Visualize This: The FlowingData Guide to Design, Visualization, and Statistics Author: Nathan Yau Publisher: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Copyright: 2011 LoC: 2011928441 ISBN: 978-0-470-94488-2 (cloth) Pages: 384 $39.99 Product Dimensions: 7.4 [...]

Origin-destination flow maps are often difficult to read due to overlapping flows. Cartographers have developed design principles in manual cartography for origin-destination flow maps to reduce overlaps and increase readability. These design principles are identified and documented using a quantitative content analysis of 97 geographic origin-destination flow maps without branching or merging flows. The effectiveness of selected design principles is verified in a user study with 215 participants. Findings show that (a) curved flows are more effective than straight flows, (b) arrows indicate direction more effectively than tapered line widths, and (c) flows between nodes are more effective than flows between areas. These findings, combined with results from user studies in graph drawing, conclude that effective and efficient origin-destination flow maps should be designed according to the following design principles: overlaps between flows are minimized; symmetric flows are preferred to asymmetric flows; longer flows are curved more than shorter or peripheral flows; acute angles between crossing flows are avoided; sharp bends in flow lines are avoided; flows do not pass under unconnected nodes; flows are radially distributed around nodes; flow direction is indicated with arrowheads; and flow width is scaled with represented quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on mApp, an application software used in cartography. It states that mapps are a hybrid map form, a synthesis of the functionality of modern multimedia mapping with the portability of paper. It mentions that cartographers use Adobe Illustrator for their cartographic products, repackage them for distribution as mapps on mobile devices. It mentions that Adobe Flash, can be used by cartographers to create mapps for different mobile device market.