The abundance of data in the world today is wonderful; GPS-enabled phones, APIs, open data portals, and cheap IoT devices can give us a wealth of information. Up until now, it was rare to deal with such data-rich content, so the average GIS user didn't need to know how to deal with this abundance. Cartographers for a long time have been working on how to best show data on a map.
In the previous chapters, you learned how to properly choose the right design, colors, and typeface for your map document. In this chapter, we will discuss the purpose of different genres of maps and how to choose which one to use. We will discuss when it's appropriate to change the data to make the map more visually appealing or accessible. We will then close the chapter learning different ways to aggregate and faithfully represent data.