Final Project

For the Cartographic Skills final project I assumed the scenario of being a cartographer at the National Center for Education Statistics. The assignment was to create a single map showing the 2014 average ACT scores and percent of graduates tested in the continental United States for intended submission to the Washington Post newspaper. We were to consider all the elements we have learned in this class to create an accurate and attractive map. 

I begin the map project by reading the Washington Post article and then researched the final audience of the map. I examined different types of thematic map methods that will best portray the data. I chose choropleth and projected my basemaps to North American Albers Equal Area Conic which maintains area proportional to the ground - important for data aggregated from an entire state. I used choropleth mapping to show the distribution of SAT scores across the country and their relationship to their enumeration unit (State). I then used proportional symbols for the percent of graduates tested data to show the proportion of the value within each state. I chose Natural Breaks(Jenks) classification used 6 class scheme, expanding the class from 5 to 6 in order to capture any low-value outliers. This classification scheme highlighted a wider range of values than just 5 classes and stayed clear of potential hue differentiation problems that can occur with 7 or more classes. The range of colors is easily read and my proportional symbols are not so small they are hard to see or so large they create significant overlap. I added an inset for Hawaii (HI) and Alaska (AK) to capture the geographically distant States and for clarity. 

My design choices centered around my previous projects on choropleth maps; I primarily used low intensity and non-garish colors, and had limited embellishments. I organized my data frames to keep HI and AK clearly visible but they are not in a location relatively to their true geographic locations, I avoid glow and drop shadow with the goal of keeping the map simple, and chose complementary colors for a balanced, attractive map.