Carson Park Map - Critique 3

This map of carson park was made by the Chippewa Valley Museum.  I really like this map because it is pretty detailed and this is a place I really like to visit (two blocks from my house).  The figure-ground in this map is very good.  It has a nice contrast from the blue water to the green land.  The Legibility of the map is ok, I would probably change the color of the numbered circles so that they don't blend in to the dark colored trees as much.  The clarity of the map is really good.  One spot it could be better is on the road that cross from Lake Street into Carson Park.  If it was a little wider using displacement I think it would look better.  The balance of the map is good, there isn't an uneven placement of things.  Lastly the Visual Hierarchy of the map.  The map maker should have included a scale.  I also really like how trees were included in the map.  This gives it a more realistic look and helps take up more space.

Eau Claire Bike Route- exercise 4

dorndd_exercise4, a photo by DakotaDorn on Flickr.

For this assignment I had the opportunity to use a GPS device to either "track" or "point" data on a base map of my choice.  I decided to take my GPS on a bike ride through Eau Claire and have it track my movement.  After gathering the data I then uploaded it to a data software, and from there into ArcGis.  I then dropped in a base map, and there you have it a map of my route!  I was very surprised how well the device was able to track me on my bike, even though portions of the trip were through dense tree cover.  Even in these times the information was still delivered, and my location tracked.  The ease of use for the GPS, along with the results you can achieve are reasons I wish to do more with this technology in the near future, like bring a GPS with me on a hiking trip.