Today I wound up announcing on twitter a bit of information about my upcoming book. Here’s some more on that subject:

Tentative title: Cartographer’s Toolkit

Feedback on the use of the word “toolkit” is welcomed. There’s a definition on wikipedia for this word that states, “set of basic building units for graphical user interfaces,” and that is not the way in which the word is meant in this book. Hopefully the readers will understand that it is just a general term for a book of useful items that can be readily incorporated into their map-making processes.

Those items are:
1) Colors
2) Typography
3) Map Composition Patterns

Yes, you guessed it: the colors and typography portions of the book will be very similar to the ebooks that I sell on these subjects. The difference is that they have been reformatted for a full-color print book that can be distributed on all the major channels. The aim has always been to get everyone who makes maps the tools they need to make them better. Widening the distribution to Amazon and other outlets gets closer to that goal.

The third chapter is something that, to the best of my knowledge, is the very first time that “patterns” have been created for the cartography field. The word “pattern” is used in this book in the same way that it is used in software design. You could probably substitute the word “type” as in “Map Composition Types” for the chapter except that a few of the patterns aren’t really types of maps but rather, say, a certain way of making a map. More specifics on this will probably be included in an upcoming post.

We are hoping to get the book out to the printer sometime in April. For now, I can show off one of the double-page proofs of the Typography chapter, albeit in a low resolution (this is just a page proof and is subject to change):

To those who have been asking: yes, this book will be self-published. This effort, however, has not been a solo one. Big kudos go to the great book designer Erik Jacobson of Longfeather Book Design and all those amazing cartographers who’s work will be featured in the book (to be listed in an upcoming post), and to all those who have thus far reviewed various sections of the book, and to those who are on-board to review the entire book once the complete proofs are done.

I’ll definitely be posting more about the book as we gear up for the final push.

The GISCI is holding its second annual poster contest, beginning March 15. All submissions have to be received by the deadline: April 15, 2012.

This contest involves the design of an 11″ x 17″ map in PDF format. It should display the locations of GISPs around the world via geocoding of the city and state locations.

Prizes:
1st = $500
2nd = $250
3rd = $100
People’s Choice = $500
Honorable Mentions

More information on the contest and prizes is available on the GISCI homepage here. Be sure to take a look at the finalists from last year’s contest here.

Thanks for reading the blog this year. I hope you stick around to read more about design, cartography, creativity, and the occasional post on analytical procedures in 2012! Happy New Year!

Some people don’t realize this, but I’m an analyst first and a cartographer second. Here, I’ll prove it…Here’s what’s on the white board in my office right now:

The deal is that GIS analysts have to be really good at the left-brain work (math and science, if you will) but we don’t necessarily feel it is a requirement to be good at right-brain thinking. However, this simply isn’t true. Analytical work means absolutely nothing if that work is not conveyed in a manner that engages and allows comprehension of the results. I enjoy writing this blog because at some level I imagine that it helps other people show off map data in its best possible light.

Now, if through the years of learning about and increasing your level of cartogaphic excellence you find that you want to do some pure map-making in addition to analysis, or you want to move into map-making as a profession as opposed to analysis, that’s great too. As I look back on my work for 2011 I did about 60% of what I consider GIS analysis work (that includes data creation, analysis, and the maps and reports that represent the results) and about 40% pure cartography work (no analysis, just getting data and arranging it to tell a story or to convey a particular point in the most effective way possible). It’s been a good mix for me, someone who likes variety and challenge. (But don’t we all, really.)

Albert Kiefer wound up with two of my GIS Cartography books after a snafu wherein both myself and my publisher sent him copies. He had the idea to create a contest for someone to win the book – he’ll pay the shipping. If you would like to participate in the contest you just have to tweet something about the book and include the URL. Albert or I will be picking one of the tweeters at random to win, when the contest ends tonight at 10pm MT – 12/15/2011. See my tweet stream if you just want to RT my tweet about the contest – that counts too.