Thematic Mapping: 101 Inspiring Ways to Visualise Empirical Data

by Kenneth Field

First place winner in Educational Products at the 2021 International Cartographic Conference

Maps are ubiquitous, yet maps are not made equally, nor are they read equally.

Every map is a product of its maker and its reader, and maps are rarely right or wrong but simply different versions of the truth. The meaning you see in a map can reinforce or challenge your understanding of the theme it represents, and you are much more likely to believe a map if it presents a version of the truth that you believe in already.

But how do you decide what map you want to make? How do you understand the way in which different maps can be used in different ways to tell a story? How do you design a map to be read in a particular way? Thematic 101 Inspiring Ways to Visualise Empirical Data answers these questions, and more.

Using 101 maps, graphs, charts, and plots of the 2016 United States presidential election data, Thematic Mapping explores the rich diversity of thematic mapping and the visual representation of data. It details well-known techniques and demonstrates how to design effective maps and graphics. Each map illustrates a different approach to the same data, and all lead to different maps and different ways of seeing different shades of truth.

Thematic Mapping examines the innovative and fascinating alternative ways of making maps of data which you can use in your own work. Which will speak to your truth?

Genres: Cartography

Kindle Edition

Published August 31, 2021

About the author

A self-confessed ‘cartonerd’ with a personal and professional passion for mapping. Ken gained his BSc in Cartography at Oxford Polytechnic and PhD in GIS at Leicester University and fell into academia. He spent 20 years in key positions in UK universities before ditching the bureaucracy and admin for the no-brainer move to sunny California to join Esri in 2011. He has presented and published an awful lot. He blogs (cartoblography.com), tweets (@kennethfield), is past Editor of The Cartographic Journal (2005–2014), and Chair of the ICA Map Design Commission (2011–2019). He co-founded the Journal of Maps, is on the advisory board of the International Journal of Cartography, is a Fellow of both the British Cartographic Society and Royal Geographic Society, is a Chartered Geographer (GIS), and only the second Honorary Member of the New Zealand Cartographic Society.

Ken is in love with maps, makes maps, collects maps, writes about maps, has a tattoo of his favourite map and is devoted to encouraging others to see the value in quality cartography and helping them make better maps. He attempts to push the boundaries of cartography, and he has received numerous awards for his maps, writing and pedagogy (though he’s most proud of an award for a kitchen tile design!). He’s in demand as a panelist and keynote speaker and has curated and judged numerous international map galleries. He is author of the two award-winning books CARTOGRAPHY and THEMATIC MAPPING. He is also guilty of having the idea to develop a MOOC on Cartography and roping in his talented colleagues to help bring it to fruition. Despite evidence to the contrary, life’s not all about maps, and Ken can also be found on a snowboard, behind a drum kit, building Lego, walking @wisley_dog, being in awe of his far more talented better half @lindabeale, or supporting his hometown football team, Nottingham Forest.