Responce to Denis Cosgrove

Before reading this article, I always categorized a good map because of its design and if it is easy to use. I never thought about whether or not it communicated the actual atmosphere and mood of a place, which this article opened my mind to. I can definitely see how this kind of map is incredibly difficult today with expanding cities and transportation availabilities. It brings a huge challenge for designers. With original maps, pictures of monuments and carriages in the streets all gave a humanistic application. Maybe these things today would be too much to add to a map, but even line weight and color scheme can give some life to a two dimensional representation. Including several maps of one relatively small place in particular gives a traveler the opportunity to see what kind of environment they will be exploring, just like how Manhattan Island was represented by Bollmann. Maps of smaller spaces, like a mall, could much easier represent a mood then a one page map of the United States, but I have never seen an interesting map of a shopping center.

In regards to this project, if the class was to represent Urbana-Champaign, we should really focus on what makes this community so unique compared to all others. Maybe it is because we are home to one of the nation’s largest University’s or maybe because of our agriculture and home to Morrow Plots. I think we have many interesting opportunities to explore.