Making Maps:
A Visual Guide to Map Design for Geographic Information Systems, 3rd Edition


John Krygier | Denis Wood


Guilford Press

The Book

Lauded for its accessibility and beautiful design, this text has given thousands of students and professionals the tools to create effective, compelling maps. Using a wealth of illustrations - with 74 in full color - to elucidate each concisely presented point, the revised and updated third edition continues to emphasize how design choices relate to the reasons for making a map and its intended purpose. All components of map making are covered: titles, labels, legends, visual hierarchy, font selection, how to turn phenomena into visual data, data organization, symbolization, and more. Innovative pedagogical features include a short graphic novella, good design/poor design map examples, end-of-chapter suggestions for further reading, and an annotated map examplar that runs throughout the book.

New to the 3rd Edition

  • New and revised topics: how to do sketch maps, how map categories and symbols have changed over time, designing maps on desktop computers and mobile devices, human perception and color, and more.
  • Separate, expanded chapter on map symbol abstraction.
  • Additional case studies of compelling phenomena such as children's traffic fatalities based on race, the spread of tropical diseases, and the 2012 presidential election.
  • Many additional color illustrations.





The Blog

...and a Twitter feed with recent Making Maps Blog postings (and other related and unrelated excitement):