Lab 2: Map of UWF Campus

 

This week we had to compose a map of of the location of The University of West Florida within Escambia County. While I had completed and exported a map before, this was the first map I had done with the map essentials like scales, north arrow, and legend. 

I had to be thoughtful in how I picked my options for this map as I had to make sure the map was easily accessible so it could be read with minimal effort. I wanted to use minimal and lighter colors so it could be printed in either color or black and white so it could be versatile for printing. 

I also explored the meta data and properties for many of the layers we used and found them to be useful in tracing the history and credibility of the shapefiles we used. While some were relatively recent, I was surprised to find that some shapefiles I was browsing were not updated in over a decade!

While it looks basic, I believe this is a small but very significant stepping stone to make more vibrant and colorful maps. I look forward to my next project to see how it compares to this.