Yesterday was judging day for the 2012 GISCI poster contest. In case you aren’t familiar with the annual contest, there are cash prizes for the top winners, with $500 going to the first place winner and $500 going to the People’s Choice winner. Winners also get their initial or renewal certification fee waived. A $250 second place award, $100 third place award, and honorable mentions are also given.
The judging criteria are: accuracy, design/layout, legibility, visual appeal, effective communication, effective use of geographic information, and originality.
This is my second time as a guest judge, which means giving a score for each of the above criteria to the top 12 finalists. You can view the top 12 finalists here. When the winners are announced, soon probably, I’ll write a post about them. Here are the comments I sent in with my scores:
“There was a lot of originality in this year’s maps! Though some of the original ideas didn’t really work for me, I was thrilled to see people attempting new and interesting things. There were plenty of take-away ideas for my own future designs.
Many of the remarks in the comments column are critical of certain aspects of the designs, but folks must always realize that when asked to critique, the critics will always find fault in things. It is always easier to critique than to create. Certainly, I admire everyone’s efforts and contributions.
While judging these, I tried to visualize each one on the walls of GISCI headquarters. ‘Which one would show us off the best?’ was my guiding thought.”
#1 by Hilary on September 11, 2012 - 9:34 am
I judged again this year too and considered the maps in almost exactly the same way!
#2 by Gretchen on September 11, 2012 - 9:40 am
@Hilary Great!
#3 by Rick Rupp on September 11, 2012 - 1:09 pm
Hmm. Gretchen, I understand why you see a need to publish cartography books for GIS practitioners.
#4 by Gretchen on September 11, 2012 - 1:30 pm
@Rick Ha! I take it you were less than thrilled with the entries.
#5 by Sean on September 12, 2012 - 7:09 am
Gretchen, this was my first time entering, and I’m in the top 12. Do you know if GISCI releases the critiques to the finalists? I would love to see them. I have so many “hindsight is 20/20” moments when I look at the mistakes in mine because I only heard about the contest one week before submissions were due, so I was cobbling it together up to the last minute. Thanks!
#6 by Gretchen on September 12, 2012 - 8:15 am
@Sean Congrats on making it to the top 12! Unfortunately I don’t know if they will share the critiques or not.
#7 by Sara on September 13, 2012 - 8:14 am
I would recommend changing the way the “people’s choice” is voted on. Clearly, some are getting all their friends to like their map and it makes it unfair. Voting online with your GISCI/URISA credentials would be better.
Most of the entries are way too busy for my taste. I was surprised at some of the entries that made the top 12.
#8 by Gretchen on September 13, 2012 - 8:34 am
Maybe we could rename it “who has the most friends online.”
But seriously, a lot of online contests end up this way. The solution is to publicize it enough so that there are plenty of unbiased people voting.