Choropleth maps, like the one above, use the visual variable of value (aka shade or lightness), sometimes in concert with hue or saturation, to present data about featues. Academic cartographers teach that this symbology should only be used in certain circumstances.
The phenomenon being mapped must be thought to vary only between enumeration units, and [...]
More props to the EveryBlock team. While checking out my old neighborhood in Chicago, I noticed that they’ve changed the way they symbolize happenings. The following three images were captured as I drilled down on some happenings in Lincoln Square (restaurant reviews, aggravated assaults, etc.).
Notice how the news items are aggregated into proportional [...]
If you haven’t checked out EveryBlock (a news feed for your block), check it out. Created by a team of four, including Adrian Holovaty of chicagocrime.org fame, and released just weeks ago, EveryBlock is perhaps most noteworthy for the designers’ choice to roll their own maps. Paul Smith has a post on just [...]