StretchLearn Course

Design Maps People Can Actually Read

From figure-ground and projection to honest choropleth classification, ColorBrewer colour ramps, Imhof's type rules, and a clean export workflow in QGIS, Mapbox, and Illustrator, learn to design maps that inform instead of mislead.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hr 35 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course treats map-making as an information-design discipline, grounded in the work of cartographers from Eduard Imhof to Cynthia Brewer. You will learn how to figure-ground a map so the subject pops, choose a projection and classification that do not lie, build colour ramps that respect the area-size bias, place type by Imhof's rules, and design wayfinding and illustrated maps with intent. Every lesson uses named tools, real numbers, and worked examples drawn from QGIS, Mapbox, and Adobe Illustrator.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Establish figure-ground and visual hierarchy so the map subject reads first and context recedes

Choose a map projection and scale appropriate to purpose, and apply generalisation deliberately

Classify quantitative data honestly using equal-interval, quantile, and Jenks natural-breaks methods

Build sequential and diverging choropleth ramps with ColorBrewer that account for the area-size bias

Place type on geography using Imhof's labelling rules for points, lines, and areas

Export print and web-ready maps from QGIS, Mapbox, and Illustrator with correct specs and styling

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Cartographic Foundations

Before placing a single label, you need the principles that separate a map from a screenshot of geography: figure-ground, visual hierarchy, projection, scale, and generalisation. This module sets the foundation everything else builds on.

3 lessons

Figure-Ground and Visual HierarchyContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Projections, Scale, and PurposeContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Generalisation: Deciding What to Leave OutContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Colour and the Choropleth Map

The choropleth, where regions are shaded by a data value, is the most common and most abused thematic map. This module covers honest data classification, the right colour ramp for the data type, and the perceptual traps that make choropleths mislead.

3 lessons

Normalise First, Then ClassifyContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Sequential, Diverging, and the Right RampContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Perceptual Traps and Choropleth AlternativesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Type on Geography and Wayfinding Maps

Labels are where most maps fall apart. This module covers Imhof's rules for placing type on points, lines, and areas, the typographic conventions that encode feature meaning, and the principles behind wayfinding and illustrated maps.

3 lessons

Imhof's Rules for Labelling a MapContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Typographic Conventions That Encode MeaningContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Wayfinding and Illustrated MapsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Production and Export in QGIS, Mapbox, and Illustrator

Turn the design into finished, shareable artefacts. This module covers the styling and print-export workflow in QGIS, the interactive web workflow in Mapbox, the Illustrator polish route, and the legend, scale, and credibility elements that complete a map.

3 lessons

Designing and Exporting a Print Map in QGISContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Styling an Interactive Map in MapboxContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Illustrator Polish, Legends, and Map CredibilityContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

map designcartographychoroplethQGISMapboxinformation designwayfindingdata visualisation