Ideology and the Map

The most interesting concept of this article was the user’s perception of the representation of the map and what the map actually represents. For example, Huck sees the map as a literal representation. He states that Indiana must be pink because that is how the state is represented on the map. Also, the representation of Russia and Africa on the Mercator map can lead to several conclusions. Was the designer of the map trying to show that Russia is more powerful than Africa? Or was the map designed poorly?

These examples show that it is important to keep in mind the user’s perception of what the design actually means when publishing a piece. Therefore when designers and writers publish documentation they need to remember that the user is the most important piece of design. They need to determine how the users will use the information and what questions may arise.