The use of map icons is an efficient way to condense a map object into a concise expression of geospatial data. Like all cartographic design, map icon design merges artistic and scientific elements into symbolic representations intended to be readily legible to map readers. This entry reviews the types of map icons and elements of icon design, including the ways in which the visual variables are used in map icon communication. As communicative devices, icons are imbued with cultural meanings and can oftentimes lead to the preservation of stereotypes. This review concludes with an examination of icons’ perpetuation of – and challenge to – cultural stereotypes.

Map production describes the experience of managing the many aspects and details of map creation. Often the map product is created for someone else—a client, supervisor, or instructor. Describing the intention of the map and evaluating available resources ahead of the project can help the cartographer define content requirements, stay on task, and ultimately meet deadlines. The project management life cycle involves clear communication between the cartographer and client, with resolutions to common questions best addressed at the beginning of the project. The process then iteratively cycles through phases that include research and production, followed by quality control, and concludes with file preparation and delivery.

Geodesign leverages GIS&T to allow collaborations that result in geographically specific, adaptive and resilient solutions to complex problems across scales of the built and natural environment. Geodesign is rooted in decades of research and practice. Building on that history, is a contemporary approach that embraces the latest in GIS&T, visualization, and social science, all of which is organized around a unique framework process involving six models. More than just technology or GIS, Geodesign is a way of thinking when faced with complicated spatial issues that need systematic, creative, and integrative solutions.  Geodesign holds great promise for addressing the complexity of interrelated issues associated with growth and landscape change. Geodesign empowers through design combined with data and analytics to shape our environments and create desired futures.

Map production describes the experience of managing the many aspects and details of map creation. Often the map product is created for someone else—a client, supervisor, or instructor. Describing the intention of the map and evaluating available resources ahead of the project can help the cartographer define content requirements, stay on task, and ultimately meet deadlines. The project management life cycle involves clear communication between the cartographer and client, with resolutions to common questions best addressed at the beginning of the project. The process then iteratively cycles through phases that include research and production, followed by quality control, and concludes with file preparation and delivery.

The selection of appropriate type on maps, far from an arbitrary design decision, is an integral part of establishing the content and tone of the map. Typefaces have personalities, which contribute to the rhetorical message of the map. It is important to understand how to assess typefaces for their personalities, but also to understand which typefaces may be more or less legible in a labeling context. Beyond the choice of typeface, effective map labels will have a visual hierarchy and allow the user to easily associate labels to their features and feature types. The cartographer must understand and modify typographic visual variables to support both the hierarchy and label-feature associations.