How Are Static Maps Actually Made? A Workflow-Based Discussion on Cartographic Practice and Education Yanbing Chen, University of Wisconsin-Madison Alicia Cowart, University of Wisconsin-Madison This Birds of a Feather session invites cartographers, educators, students to collectively unpack how static maps are created in current professional practice. The session begins with participants’ lived workflows: how they receive a mapping task, gather and clean data, choose tools, move between GIS and graphic design software, revise drafts, respond to feedback, prepare files for publication, and evaluate the final map. Through a collaborative workflow-mapping and card-sorting activity, participants will identify common stages in static map production, document where key decisions happen, and compare these stages with existing GIS&T Body of Knowledge components. Special attention will be given to tool-mediated decisions: for example, what specific steps (generalization, visual design etc.) occurs in ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Mapshaper, Adobe Illustrator, scripting environments, or through manual visual editing. The goal is to surface forms of practical cartographic knowledge that may be underrepresented in current cartography and GIS education, and to discuss how curricula might better reflect contemporary static map production.
Friday October 23, 2026 2:00pm - 3:40pm CDT Commons
