Here is a map created in ArcGIS Online using Imagery and Terrain layers available in Living Atlas. Here’s how you can make it: If you’d like a straight up recipe to go along with this video, I’ve got you covered! Remember, the elevation image service is subscriber content, so it’s not for public-facing applications where … Continue reading Create Imhof-inspired maps in ArcGIS Online
I just wrote a guest blog post for the Esri Young Professionals Network (I know, I’m neither young, nor professional) about my job at Esri (UX design, cartography, and education), what I did before that, and then I carelessly toss around some advice. If that sounds like a 3 minute read that you’re interested in, … Continue reading My job at Esri, what I did before that, and then some advice
In part 1, of this two-part series, we learned how to create texture layers in ArcGIS to give your maps a realistic lived-in appearance. Now we’re going to use those texture layers in a custom basemap, and we’ll also customize the content and appearance of existing vector tile layers along the way, to get exactly what … Continue reading How to edit vector tile layers and assemble them into a custom basemap
The vector data format is unbelievably useful, but one artifact of the format is discrete boundaries. Vector has to draw a line somewhere, but the visual result can imply more certainty or discrete solidity than is really going on, in this case smoke concentration in the air. How can we benefit from the utility of … Continue reading Smokey data visualization
Here’s how you can take an image, turn it into a repeating texture, and apply it to the whole world. We’ll make a cement-sourced gritty texture and then a water-sourced wave texture. We’ll use the Vector Tile Style Editor to make these textures global layers for ArcGIS, ready to pour tactile charm and reality into … Continue reading How to make map textures for ArcGIS and stuff
I heard regular people can just buy, and then remotely pilot, small flying robots with exquisite cameras. I figure these things have to have some utility in the mapping realm, so I got the cheapest one I could find that might get me going on making some basic maps. Why? Why not? Goals We’ll figure … Continue reading I Got a Drone, part 1: Unboxing & Goals
In my mental model of a walkability map it’s not enough to know how far away something is, but also how long it takes me to get there. My perceptions of the same distances, but with different walk times, are much different. There are realities that slow me down like intersections, buildings, water features, or … Continue reading Time-warp walkability mapping in ArcGIS Pro
Yes, yes, maps are spatial communication devices and we can obsess over precision and clarity. But it all depends on your map’s purpose. Maps are also designed objects so they can carry within them the power of sentiment. Memory, joy, nostalgia. Or just plain old wonder and curiosity. Here’s how you can create a charming … Continue reading Make a cross stitch style map in ArcGIS Pro
Here’s how to use compositing to tint flowing wind patterns by underlying terrain colors. Why? Because rather than a basemap providing some context around a layer that inherently blocks your view of it, you can leverage the amazing compositing blend modes of the ArcGIS Online Map Viewer to make the phenomenon reveal context rather than … Continue reading van Gogh style wind map
