Heather Smith, Esri Journalist Profile

Articles

Simplify your map

1 month ago | esri.com | Heather Smith |Bern Szukalski |John Nelson

When someone asks me for help improving their map, my advice is almost always to simplify. A simpler map is easier to design and easier to read. When it comes to visual communication, less is more. Try using fewer layers, fewer colors, and fewer words. Two places where simplification is especially impactful are pop-ups and symbols.
Normalization for choropleth maps

2 months ago | esri.com | Heather Smith |John Nelson

Choropleth maps are filled areas of color representing quantitative data. Normalization is an important step in making choropleth maps. The goal of normalization is to allow for meaningful comparisons across features. How do you know if you need to normalize your data? How should you normalize it? How can you tell if normalization is working? What is the point? These short videos share advice, examples, and analogies to help answer these questions and explain normalization for choropleth maps. Video #1.
Choose and modify basemaps in ArcGIS Online

2 months ago | esri.com | Heather Smith |Andrew Green |Andy Skinner |Emily Meriam

Looking for an easy win for your map? Often the easiest way to improve a map’s design is to change its basemap. The appearance of the basemap has a huge impact on the appearance of the symbology. For this reason, I recommend choosing symbols and basemaps together. The 3-minute video below explains why you should care about the basemap and offers some advice on making a good choice for your map. What if you can’t find a basemap that suits your particular map?
What's new in ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud (November 2024)

Nov 5, 2024 | esri.com | Thomas Coughlin |John Nelson |Kenneth Field |Heather Smith

ArcGIS Blog ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud is a plug-in for Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Cartographers and designers can bring ArcGIS data into Adobe Creative Cloud to create beautiful and useful maps and graphics. New to Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud? Get started with our video tutorial playlist.
New tutorial series: Cartographic creations with web maps

Oct 24, 2024 | esri.com | Heather Smith

I recently finished writing a 5-part tutorial series all about web cartography. Cartographic creations with web maps will teach you how to make professional quality web maps and apps with Map Viewer and ArcGIS StoryMaps. The video below shows what you will make and learn. This tutorial series serves as a companion peice to Cartographic creations in ArcGIS Pro, and both are key content in the Introduction to Cartography course.
Expert view: AXA Health’s CEO on being there for employees when it matters most

Jul 31, 2024 | reba.global | Heather Smith

An organisation that lives and breathes health and wellbeing and enables individuals to access support will reap the benefits, says Heather Smith, chief executive officer at AXA Health Who has responsibility for health and wellbeing? Individuals themselves, the NHS, other health organisations, employers? They all play a critical role.
Council Post: Mid-Year Benefits Check-In: Get Your Communications In Order Before OE

Jul 9, 2024 | forbes.com | Heather Smith

Heather Smith, Chief People Officer at Flimp Communications. Strategic leader with two decades of experience spanning HR and operations. Keeping employees informed and engaged with their benefits throughout the year is a critical part of the HR job function. With the mid-year mark upon us, now's the perfect time to get a pulse on how your employees are feeling about their benefits.
Color connotations and associations

May 21, 2024 | esri.com | Heather Smith

Colors are never neutral. They affect how people think and feel about your map. As a cartographer, you should be aware of the connotations and associations carried by the colors you use. They can be powerful tools to help you communicate more clearly. But if you ignore them, they can just as easily sabotage your map’s message. The two videos below share examples of color choices based on associations and connotations.
Light and dark color schemes

May 9, 2024 | esri.com | Heather Smith

In map design, the choice of color scheme is dependent on the basemap. If you have a light basemap, most people will interpret dark colors to mean “more” and light colors to mean “less”. If you have a dark basemap, the opposite is true. The video below shows examples of designing with light and dark color schemes in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro. If you’re using a light basemap, dark colors will stand out more and so appear to mean “more”.
Printing maps, the (really) old-fashioned way

Mar 7, 2024 | esri.com | Heather Smith

In addition to being a cartographer, I’m also an artist. More specifically, a printmaker. Recently I made a woodcut print which is also a map. I used ArcGIS Pro to design and plan the project. Let me show you how to make some art with ArcGIS. What is a woodcut print? To make a woodcut print, you carve an image out of a flat piece of wood and print it. It’s basically a stamp. You may be more familiar with linocut prints. They’re the same thing, just carved on linoleum instead of wood.