Typography in Map Design

Typography in maps refers to symbols and signs in maps. Since maps are graphical representation of spatial relationships that essentially reduce the permutations of space into a two-dimensional topological construct, the role of typography is limited to labeling points, arcs, and polygons (referred to as features) with appropriate and efficient form, style, and weight factors.

In 1990, John B. Harley redefined maps as more than mere efficient representations of physical surfaces. Through a postmodernist reinterpretation of map typography, Harley viewed maps as representations of power. Thus, maps have joined the ranks of other graphical pursuits, such as architecture and design, that encounter such ontological [Page 2893]issues. The impact on typography has been evident ever since the stability of ideas, as Plato imagined it, was challenged in ...