Dot Maps

This lab focused on creating dot maps.  This map shows the population densities of southern Florida according to data from the 2000 US Census.

The biggest challenge of this map was creating a color scheme that allowed for the varied elements while still allowing the population dots to remain prominent. I wanted to give the frame background color and spent a long time with both light and dark backgrounds. I ended up choosing a gradient light blue that seems visually pleasing.  I think the gradient helps avoid the implication that southern Florida is an island while still helping the main terrestrial area stand out.  I always struggle with what color to use for “land”.  In the end the combo of sandy color with blue for water features and green for wetlands works for me. I chose to diminish the color of the boundaries between counties but not to eliminate them entirely.  If I set them to No Color, the Keys are lost and we don’t want that.   Red might seem a bit extreme as a color for the population densities, but also seems to work pretty well with this color scheme.  Less bright colors tended to get lost in the sand/blue/green combo.

As a computer guy, I found it interesting how processor-intensive it was to generate the masks.  I have to wonder if there is an inefficiency going on there.  One would think it should not be much more than a couple clips joined together to move points from county boundaries into the urban areas that intersect the country boundaries.