VISUAL

VARIABLES Compiled & Built by:

Miguel Quirama Aguilar

Visual variables are the code of signs to represent a phenomenon on a map.

In cartographic language, they represent the connection between the information to
be represented, the map and the map user. They are distributed as follows:

SHAPE
It is usually applied on point symbols. Since the point is dimensionless,
the shape will take more space than the real to represent it and will be
located in the geometric center of the figure. Go ahead, try using
pictographs to improve your maps.

ORIENTATION
It is a variable that should be used to differentiate a maximum of 4
entities. Also, it is a suitable variable to indicate direction. It is not as
functional in polygons, lines or pictographs as it is in points with
directional arrows or lines. Go ahead, and use it once per map.

HUE
It allows you to nominally differentiate entities and indicate progress or
opposition between them. Also, it allows you to have much more
beautiful maps! Go ahead, use the color with no hesitation, but keep in
mind a maximum of 3 colors on the same map.

VALUE
It is a variable that allows you to have control of what is most
important on a map. The value uses the same hue with different
saturation to represent the relative importance of the features on the
map. Go ahead, use it and make your maps more communicative.

TEXTURE
It allows you to effectively display surfaces with an order of
importance, specially when there is already a lot of color on a map. Go
ahead, use it and remember that thicker textures show a higher
importance of the feature in the map.

SIZE
This variable also lets you know that one figure is more important than
another on the map. Its power lies in that it also allows you to know
how much more important it is respectively. Go ahead, use it to show
costs, income, population, growth, change, etc.