GUIDING SYMBOLOGY AND DISPLAY SELECTION TO PRODUCE MORE EFFECTIVE IMAGES FOR CONVEYING INFORMATION

Symbology and display characteristics may influence the way individuals perceive information portrayed by maps and other images. Cartographic design has long considered the influence these characteristics have on developing effective maps but also seeks to balance this need to convey information with aesthetics in order to effectively communicate across various audiences. Similarly, there are many cartographic practices that could be incorporated within other disciplines to better inform image design. Geoscience educators, for example, often use illustrated depictions for conveying information but can neglect cartographic design principles which may effectively limit image efficacy. In this paired study, we seek to illuminate how we communicate about science through images. In the first part of this study, we carry out an eye tracking experiment in which we quantify differences in apparent visual attention of experts and novices across images symbolized using varying color palettes. In the second part of this study, we utilize the Amazon Mechanical Turk internet crowdsourcing tool to examine participants’ ability to estimate map values based on the color ramp used to symbolize continuous-value map data. We hope these data sets will better guide symbology selection by image designers so as to produce more effective images for conveying information.