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Learning Objectives

  • Learn to make a beautiful choropleth map layout 

  • Get familiar with classification schemes

  • Create a balanced layout with multiple map frames

  • Create and customize a legend

  • Understand the concepts of basic map design to employ in your own maps!

Requirements

  • Create one layout with five choropleth maps of US Census data on Housing Unit Occupancy

    • County-level Housing Unit Data​

      • Lower 48​

      • Alaska

      • Hawaii

    • Census Tract-level Housing Unit Data​

      • Pennsylvania​

      • Philadelphia Metro area

  • Emphasize state boundaries​​

  • Shared classification & color scheme across all maps

  • Clearly designed legend

  • Legible page design & layout

  • Legible titles, subtiles, data source/author info, & scalebars

  • Projected map

Let's Get Started!

Open ArcGIS Pro Project

I have created an ArcGIS Pro project where I have already cleaned and joined the housing unit data to the spatial county & Census tract data. [Open ArcGIS Pro Project here]​

Get Started

I have created an ArcGIS Pro project for you to quickly get started. The goal of this Master Class is to learn about the principles of designing a good map, not to get too hung up in the technology. I want you to be able to take these concepts and apply them to maps you make in QGIS or R.

  1. Download the ArcGIS Pro project & Open

  2. You will notice that you have several tabs at the top of your page: Lower 48, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia.

  3. Open each tab and on the left-hand side you will see your Contents pane. These are your layers.

All your maps need a map projection

First off, all maps need to be projected. This is important for how the map looks and the assumptions people make from what they see (THINK: Mercator Projection). But it also has the potential to affect how your analyses are conducted. What map projection you pick depends on your spatial extent, scale, and purpose of your map.

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We’ll be using the Albers Equal Area Conic projection for our Lower 48 Map and the Pennsylvania State Plane South Projection to our PA & Philly Maps. An equal area projection (like Albers) is good for a choropleth map of the Lower 48 because it doesn’t distort area. Since we are looking at areas (aka polygons of counties), this makes sense to choose a projection that doesn’t distort the area. The State Plane projections are great for maps at the scale of PA & Philly.

4. Double-click on the name of the map at the top of the Contents pane to open the Map Properties Window. -> Select the “Coordinate Systems” tab (on the right).

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