Last updated January 2016

This resources list includes items referenced in GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design, 2nd Edition as well as a variety of additional resources that may be of interest to readers.

Cartography

• Barber, Peter. The Map Book. Walker & Company, 2005.
• Brewer, Cynthia A. Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users 2nd Edition. ESRI Press, 2016.
• Brotton, Jerry. Great Maps (Dk Smithsonian). DK, 2014.
• Dent, B., Torguson, J., Hodler, T. Cartography: Thematic Map Design. McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 6 edition, 2008.
• Harzinski, Kris. From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association. Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.
• Imhof, Eduard. Cartographic Relief Presentation. ESRI Press, 2007.
• Monmonier, Mark. How to Lie with Maps (2nd Edition). University of Chicago Press, 1996.
• Peterson, Gretchen N. Cartographer's Toolkit: Colors, Typography, Patterns. PetersonGIS Press, 2012.
• Peterson, Gretchen N. GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design Second Edition. CRC Press, 2014.
• Zineddin, Z., P. M. Garvey, R. A. Carlson, and M. T. Pietrucha. "Effects of Practice on Font Legibility," Perception and Performance 4, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting Proceedings (2007): 1717–1720.
• Cartotalk, a public forum for cartography and design, is a great resource.
• The Map Room is a blog about maps, mapping, and technology by Jonathan Crowe.
• The National Geologic Map Database is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey and contains information on mapping techniques and guidelines.
• The Soil Geographic Data Standard, developed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), describes the standards for mapping soils in the United States with specific regard to the soil data created by the National Cooperative Soil Survey.
• The Utilities Data Content Standard, created by the Federal Geographic Data Committee, is a good resource for looking up the standard attributes of many utility features.
• Wired Map Lab is a newish blog at Wired that has stories trending regularly. It's one to watch in 2016.

Fonts and Icons

• Lupton, Ellen. Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students. Princeton Architectural Press; 2 Rev Exp edition, 2010.
• Martin, K., Dodd, R., Davis, G., Gordon, B. 1000 Fonts. Chronicle Books, 2009.
• dafont.com is user community site that allows free downloads of unique fonts.
• exljbris Font Foundry is a company providing some of my favorite fonts.
• Font Awesome is a popular icon font.
• Font List allows you to see font samples from a clickable list of fonts.
• FontStruct is a user community site that allows you to build your own font and download other user's fonts.
• Linotype is a site that contains original, proprietary fonts for purchase.
• The Noun Project has an icon for everything, all in a similar style.
• TypeBrewer is a free map design tool for selecting typography.
• WhatTheFont identifies a font from a user-uploaded screenshot of the desired font.

Colors

• Anderson, J. R., Hardy, E. E., Roach, J. T. and Witmer, R. E. "Land Use and Land Cover Classification System for Use with Remote Sensor Data" (114 KB PDF). Geological Survey Professional Paper 964 (1976). A revision of the land use classification system as presented in U.S. Geological Survey Circular 671.
• Kennelly, P. J. "NOT Mapping Our World." ArcUser, July–September 2007.
• Meihoefer, H. "The Utility of the Circle as an Effective Cartographic Symbol." Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization 6, no. 2 (1969): 105–117. Article ($)e.
• Nighbert, Jeffery S., Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. "Characterizing Landscape for Visualization Through 'Bump Mapping' and Spatial Analysis" (2 MB PDF)
• Ovenden, Mike and Ashworth, Mike. Transit Maps of the World. Penguin, 2007. Transit Maps of the World is just one of many books of maps that could provide palette inspiration.
• Patterson, T. and Kelso, N. V. "Hal Shelton Revisited: Designing and Producing Natural-Color Maps with Satellite Land Cover Data." Cartographic Perspectives, Journal of the North American Cartographic Information Society 47, Winter 2004.
• The American Standard Geologic Age Color Scheme (5.2 MB PDF), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Association of American State Geologists, is shown in a reference diagram on this site.
• A Tapestry of Time and Terrain shows the American Standard geologic rock age color scheme with hillshading underneath.
• Color Brewer is a web tool used for selecting map color schemes.
• Color Oracle is a colorblindness simulator that applies a full screen color filter to your design independently of the software in use.
• Color Scheme Designer is an online tool that allows you to interactively choose a color palette using a clickable color wheel.
• COLOURlovers is a site for community contributed palettes. Also see their article titled "Common Color Names for Easy Reference" found here.
• GenoPal is a software package with some online toolsets that use a technology to create palettes based on how your mind perceives color. They focus on using photographs to inspire and create color palettes.
• kuler, by Adobe, is another community color site that allows you to browse user's color palettes and view critical feedback.
• MollyMaps' Art Maps is just one of many painted map artists.
• Strange Maps is a widely read blog with a variety of maps and corresponding critiques. These maps are useful to glean ideas on novel approaches and color schemes.
• Vischeck is a website where you can upload a map and have it transform into a graphic that shows you what your map would look like to a color-deficient person.
• Web Colors Explained presents articles explaining the RGB, CMYK, HSB and hex color models.
• Pattern Chart (5 MB PDF). In FGDC DigitalCartographic Standard for Geologic Map Symbolization Federal Geographic Data Committee Document Number FGDC_STD_013_2006 (Federal Geographic Data Committee, 2006), p. 290.
• Munsell Software Conversion Program (Version 10).

Web Mapping

• Muehlenhaus, Ian. Web Cartography: Map Design for Interactive and Mobile Devices. CRC Press, 2013.
• Youngblood, Brian. GeoServer Beginner's Guide. Packt Publishing, 2013.
• CartoDB provides a solution for analyzing GIS data and creating beautiful webmaps with it.
• D3.js is a JavaScript library that you can use to make nice interactive maps. See Scott Murray's tutorials to get started.
• Mapbiquity allows you to make a digital map to easily embed in your website using your locations on top of a Google map.
• Mapbox Studio allows you to design and build interactive maps for your websites. Their gallery is full of beautiful maps.
• OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free service that allows you to contribute to a worldwide basemap by digitizing things into their database. You can also use the OSM data in your own digital and static maps, with a bit of work.
• The Los Angeles Times web map detailing homicides in LA County is a good interactive map example.
• The New York Times Web site is continuously creating interesting, well designed interactive Web maps. A few examples are here and here.

Design

• Bertin, Jacques. Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps. ESRI Press, 2010.
• Cairo, Alberto. The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization (Voices That Matter). New Riders, 2012.
• Edwards, Betty. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, The Definitive: 4th Edition. Tarcher, 2012.
• Few, Stephen. "Save the Pies for Dessert" (600 KB PDF). Perceptual Edge Visual Business Intelligence Newsletter, 2007.
• Few, Stephen. Information Dashboard Design: Displaying Data for At-a-Glance Monitoring Second Edition. Analytics Press, 2013.
• Squatriglia, Chuck. "Mapmakers' Sleight of Hand: Cartographers Put 'Bunnies' on the Map, Tricking Copycats, Sometimes Tourists." San Francisco Chronicle, 12 August, 2001.
• Tufte, Edward. Beautiful Evidence. Graphics Press, 2006.
• Tufte, Edward. Envisioning Information. Graphics Press, 1990.
• Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition. Graphics Press, 2001.
• Ware, Colin. Visual Thinking: for Design (Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive Technologies). Morgan Kaufmann, 2008.
• Fast Company Magazine's design section is one to watch in 2016.
• Smashing Magazine presents inspiring articles on web design, typography, and user experience.

Creativity

• Baynton-Williams, Ashley. The Curious Map Book. University of Chicago Press, 2015.
• Byttebier, Igor and Ramon Vullings. Creativity Today. BIS Publishers, 2009.
• Catmull, Ed and Amy Wallace. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. Random House, 2014.
• Harmon, Katharine. The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography. Princeton Architectural Press, 2009.
• Harmon, Katharine. You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination. Princeton Architectural Press, 2003.
• Jacobs, Frank. Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities. Studio, 2009.
• Lessig, Lawrence (Professor of Law, Stanford University). Laws that choke creativity, video.
• Reynolds, Garr. Limitations stimulate creativity. A discussion on the all by myself viral airport video.
• Weiner, Eric. The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley. Simon & Schuster, 2016.
• David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
• The Getty
• Louvre
• The Museum of Modern Art
• National Gallery of Art
• Smithsonian American Art Museum