Multiple perspectives in design: World maps and their perspectives

Multiple perspectives in design: World maps and their perspectives

STIRNEMANN, Julia Mia

Article:

The depiction of the world by means of world maps makes design perspective an issue of cartography. In design issues, world maps have different purposes, such as in the field of in-formation graphics. The geographical centres of conventional world maps are usually de-fined by the Equator that forms the horizontal axis, rather than by the thematically relevant geographical area of the map’s topic. Conventional world maps are commonly used without much thought to the relationship between the map’s theme and its geographical centre. These prevailing conventions are responsible for the specific worldview that emerges from a unique perspective and a unique ideological point of view. This raises the question: what if world maps could be designed with different perspectives? “Mapping World Maps” answers this question by proposing a principle for generating unconventional world maps. Special-purpose software has now been developed (www.worldmapgenerator.com) to generate wholly new varieties of world maps.

The depiction of the world by means of world maps makes design perspective an issue of cartography. In design issues, world maps have different purposes, such as in the field of in-formation graphics. The geographical centres of conventional world maps are usually de-fined by the Equator that forms the horizontal axis, rather than by the thematically relevant geographical area of the map’s topic. Conventional world maps are commonly used without much thought to the relationship between the map’s theme and its geographical centre. These prevailing conventions are responsible for the specific worldview that emerges from a unique perspective and a unique ideological point of view. This raises the question: what if world maps could be designed with different perspectives? “Mapping World Maps” answers this question by proposing a principle for generating unconventional world maps. Special-purpose software has now been developed (www.worldmapgenerator.com) to generate wholly new varieties of world maps.

Palavras-chave:

DOI: 10.5151/despro-icdhs2016-03_003

Referências bibliográficas

• [1] Akerman, James R. (2007). Maps – finding our place in the world. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press.
• [2] Antoniou, Antonis. (2013). A map of the world according to illustrators & storytellers. Berlin: Gestalten.
• [3] Barber, Peter. (2005). The map book. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
• [4] Barber, Peter, Harper, Tom, & British Library (London). (2010). Magnificent maps power, propaganda and art. London: The British Library.
• [5] Bertin, Jacques. (1967). Sémiologie graphique les diagrammes - les réseaux - les cartes. Paris: Mouton.
• [6] Bertin, Jacques. (2001). Matrix theory of graphics. Information design journal : IDJ, 10 (1), 5–19.
• [7] Bollmann, Jürgen. (2001). Lexikon der Kartographie und Geomatik in zwei Bänden. Berlin: Spektrum.
• [8] Caquard, Sébastien. (2015). Narrative and Cartography. In M. Monmonier (Ed.), The History of Cartography (Vol. Volume II, pp. S. 989 – 991). Monmonier, Mark: University of Chicago Press.
• [9] Daru, Myriam. (2001). Jacques Bertin and the garphic essence of data. Information design journal : IDJ, 10 (1), 20–25.
• [10] Harley, J. B. (1989). Deconstructing the map. Cartographica, 26, S. 1 – 20.
• [11] Harley, J. B. (2001). The New Nature of Maps. Baltimore, London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• [12] Papay, Gyula. (2012). Gedanken zur Kartographie als Bild- und Raumwissenschaft. Kartografische Nachrichten, 62(1), 3 – 9.
• [13] Stirnemann, Julia Mia. (2014). Multiple Alternativen zur Konstruktion und Gestaltung von Weltkarten. Kartographische Nachrichten, 1(Jg. 64), S. 17-21
• [14] Tufte, Edward Rolf. (1990). Envisioning information. Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphics Press.

Como citar:

STIRNEMANN, Julia Mia; "Multiple perspectives in design: World maps and their perspectives", p-192-197. In: Wong, Wendy Siuyi; Kikuchi, Yuko & Lin, Tingyi (Eds.). <strong>Making Trans/National Contemporary Design History [=ICDHS 2016 – 10th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies]</strong>. São Paulo: Blucher, 2016.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/despro-icdhs2016-03_003