Comments on: Finding a Doctor in Non-Geographic Space

By: Sergio R. Mandiola

Sergio R. Mandiola — Fri, 31 May 2013 01:05:35 +0000

This map was first published in the late 1980s by ESSELTE of Sweden, They had a chain of maps stores there, in the pre- Google maps era. if memory serves right I know, because I used to work in the map biz from 1989-93. Rand McNally ( my first map employer) touted this map in their catalog for abortive retail “map and travel” chain . Your critiques echoes mine at he time, but I surmised then the idea was to show physical (elevation) and environmental ( land use) in a “stylized” manner. Additionally as this was Swedish company, they EXPECTED their European clientele to know where all of the busy European cities were.

By: Mark McDermott

Mark McDermott — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:39:44 +0000

As a commercial printing “preflighter,” I’ve seen more than a few maps of this sort from our health insurance clients. It’s what comes of having somebody in the office do the system map in PowerPoint.

By: Dennis McClendon

Dennis McClendon — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:13:37 +0000

I disagree that a table would have been anywhere near as useful—and certainly not better. This allows Eastsiders to quickly learn where there might be a convenient location, without having to be bothered dismissing Mt. Horeb, as they would in a table. Similarly, it allows folks who live west of Madison to not be distracted by the DeForest listing. It is communicating two-dimensional information; why would you want to reduce that to a one-dimensional list organized alphabetically? You might as well organize it by receptionist’s maiden name.

By: David Medeiros

David Medeiros — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:50:25 +0000

I guess my point is that if you need someone else to tell you what’s wrong with a map like this than you need to invest more time in cartographic study to begin with.

Even a laymen would appreciate the overall uselessness of this map. If you’re looking to create a truly helpful critical review, it might serve to look into more challenging and less obviously flawed cartography. The idea being that we will learn the most from those errors or omissions that we as cartographers ourselves don’t at first see. The things that look right until someone else points them out to us.

On the other hand calling out really bad maps isn’t a bad idea, maybe this site needs a display section for these maps… no in depth review but just a place to hang the worst of the worst? A “zone of shame” as we used say at CSAA.

By: Big Hazel

Big Hazel — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:54:16 +0000

I respectfully disagree with David Medeiros…this map may not need lengthy written analysis about what makes it bad, but I appreciate having it pointed out. Average people run across these poor representations of geographic space all the time — representations that are supposed to be making their world easier to understand, not just cluttering it up. It’s worthwhile to call out these “designers” on what they’re doing.

Hope to see more posts soon!

By: David Medeiros

David Medeiros — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:01:11 +0000

To be honest, I don’t think a map like this even warrants this kind of scrutiny. If it did then you’d have to inspect every online locator out there and you’d be repeating the same points over and over again. This is so bad it’s “obviously” bad and not much is learned from pulling it apart. I think maps with a) a more complex purpose and b) a higher base level of cartography are going to make more interesting targets for evaluation.

By: Derek

Derek — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:32:30 +0000

Is there something in the water in Dane County Wisconsin that is seriously affecting their cartographic skills? The town of Blooming Grove (the one with the infamous town map meticulously crafted from an Excel spreadsheet) is also located in Dane County. Interesting.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:07:07 +0000

They would probably do better with a simple table of locations.

By: Tina

Tina — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:13:35 +0000

“I’m sorry, the village of McFarland has asked that I stay at least 10 miles away at all times, so I’ll need a clinic an appropriate distance away.”

You too, huh? *sigh*