Some of the best, new cartography products out there have these qualities:

• Oblique views: Especially for maps of cities and towns both because of the scale and the subject. The view gives the reader a sense of being involved in the map instead of looking down from above.
• Subtle hillshading: The days of overly detailed elevation data used as backgrounds are over. So are the days of the dramatic black and white hillshade. Now we see hypsometric tinting that alludes to the slope of the land serving as a backdrop for the more salient features of the map instead of competing with them. If your elevation data are too detailed – generalize!
• Labels placed with care: Labels are not auto-generated and auto-placed. They are hand-placed as graphic elements where they will be most legible but least obtrusive.
• Integrated graphics: Graphics are used to enhance the display for informational maps. For example, I recently saw the use of magnifying glasses placed along the margins, each with a magnified view of a different part of the map shown inside.
• Background balance: Analytical maps, especially, can veer toward having backgrounds that are too simplistic (perhaps the cartographer does not want the background to compete with the data) to backgrounds that are too detailed (where the cartographer feels more information is more informative). Analytical maps that are effective will have a balance with enough background to provide a simple location awareness but not so much that it obscures the data.
• Integration: The rendering of objects is consistent within an overall scheme of color, line-weight and translucency so that nothing is jarring.
• Taste of reality: Some newer maps are taking on a look that is hard to describe. They are a blend of real and fake, sort of like a computerized world. This is achieved by the use of high-resolution imagery draped with 3-4 layers of hues for each type of feature such as grass, trees, and houses.