The good, the bad, and the ugly maps

Poor color usage in a map

This map of California Indian Tribal Groups has too many instances of colors being repeated but having no direct relation to each other. Blue is used to represent water but there are certain tribal groups also represented colors close to blue that can cause distraction or confusion. This map could be cleaned up by changing hue and values to create a nearly infinite choice of colors making repetition unnecessary.

Good color usage in a map

This map has a good use of color. Blue is used to indicate bodies of water and nothing else. Green indicates national parks. California is a much darker color than the background areas giving it a good figure-ground relationship. The red used to show major freeways/highways still stands out from the main figure of California enough to be easily distinguishable.