I’ve never been in an office with multiple cartographers. I’m not sure I want to be. Cartographers can be a particularly particular bunch – but not all in the same way. This, I imagine, could lead to difficulties. Euphemistically we might call these difficulties differences of opinion.
For example, I wonder how a coffee table in the lobby of a cartography office, laden with design, GIS, CAD, and cartography magazines and journals might morph over the course of a day. I think what would happen is…
First, Cartographer #1 walks in to the office in the morning, chipper and ready to start the day. #1 sees the coffee table with the magazines and journals and decides that they need to be arranged. Now, Cartographer #1 is an old-school type who favors traditional design. Accordingly, #1 fans the magazines and journals out on the coffee table in an orderly manner so that the beginning few letters of each title is visible. They cover most of the coffee table this way.
Cartographer #2 walks in a little while later with coffee in-hand. #2 is a modernist who sees the world in a more hip yet confusingly retro kind of way. (Thus – modern.) #2 sees the fanned-out magazines on the table, considers briefly that the magazine-fan method is reminiscent of visits to grandma’s, and proceeds to stack up the magazines and journals into one neat stack. #2 places the stack off-center, considering that this will give the whole thing a bit of an edgy feel.
Lastly, in walks Cartographer #3 (who could be the boss, perhaps). #3 remembers that there is a journal article that will assist in today’s work-tasks. With insouciance, #3 riffles through the stack, scattering magazines and journals about, until the right one is found. Cartographer #3 takes the journal and leaves the rest in a chaotic heap.
I believe that at various times, even during the same day, I would be like Cartographer #2 and Cartographer #3, but not like Cartographer #1. Except for the being chipper part. I am chipper at times. Which cartographer are you?
Recent Comments