Gem City GIS

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Scottie Milling (nod to Paul Heyman of the WWE.) I was born, raised, and I currently live in Dayton, Ohio. I completed my B.A. in English Literature at Wright State University in 2007. Currently, I'm pursuing my GIS Certificate through Michigan State University to change my career path. I'm also planning my wedding with my fiancée.

I'm passionate about cycling and supporting the growing small business community of Dayton. This may be a small mid-western town, but we've developed great  cycling infrastructure . Dayton also has some of the best restaurants and eatery's in the region. If you're ever in town, grab sandwich from  Tony and Pete's  (my favorite sandwich shop,) and make sure to check out the  National Museum of US Air Force .

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I learned about using StoryMaps to apply what I have been learning about graphic design and web page design to create my very own web page. I got to tell you all a little more about myself, where I live, and what I'm up to when I'm not learning GIS. I made carefully considered choices about the images I've included to give you a great representation of myself outside the learning environment. In addition to using this page to show my creations from this course, It is my goal to use this site as my portfolio for prospective employers.

For this lab, I got to familiarize myself with tools and symbols in Adobe Illustrator. I got familiar with creating shapes, applying color, grouping shapes and manipulating layers. I also had to replicate symbols using lines and polygons, made changes to colors, and changed typeface and font style. The goal will be applying this knowledge in future labs as I being to create maps.

This lab got me familiar with various typefaces in Adobe Illustrator with the intent of understanding how typeface plays a critical role in labeling natural and cultural features in cartography. The chosen pangram allowed me to see each letter of the alphabet at various line weights, casings, and font sizes. Additionally, I created 2 text based logos in Adobe Illustrator. I chose to create a logo for Red Bull and for NASCAR as shown below.

 Link to PDF 

The purpose of this lab was to apply my knowledge of creating text symbols in Adobe Illustrator to a base image of a map of the United States. As a novice, this was an exciting project. I applied what I have learned about typography and hierarchy of text labeling on a map, while I also got to create point symbols for major cities and mountain peaks. I pre-planned for this lab by establishing and organizing my layers on top of the base map image. The result is pictured below.

This is my first map created in ArcGIS. The purpose was to build this map as if it would be printed and displayed at rest stops along the highways of Michigan to display major cities, the US and Interstate highway systems, and I also downloaded and included a dataset for state park boundaries. The colors, line weights, and typography were all customized as I completed this map. It is my goal that the hierarchy of the map elements is well conveyed to an experienced map ready, while also being easy for a novice to read at a rest stop.

 Link to Map PDF 

For Lab 6, I used the map of Michigan I created in ArcGIS Pro and learned how to export to an AIX file so I could open and make edits in Adobe Illustrator. This gave me the opportunity to pretty up the map, and provided a major learning opportunity for working with a file that originated in ArcGIS Pro. One thing that really stuck out to me in this process, some words transfer over as letters only on their own individual layers. Once I grouped them together and reorganized my layers I was able to make more effective changes. I found this to be one of the more challenging labs for this class, but I had a lot of fun with the learning experience and the opportunity to get creative. For Lab 6, I used the map of Michigan I created in ArcGIS Pro and learned how to export to an AIX file so I could open and make edits in Adobe Illustrator. This gave me the opportunity to pretty up the map, and provided a major learning opportunity for working with a file that originated in ArcGIS Pro. One thing that really stuck out to me in this process, some words transfer over as letters only on their own individual layers. Once I grouped them together and reorganized my layers I was able to make more effective changes. I found this to be one of the more challenging labs for this class, but I had a lot of fun with the learning experience and the opportunity to get creative.

Here's a quick overview of changes to the map created in Lab 5. I changed the points for cities to white and made the outline stroke black so they would pop off the map. I also changed the point for Lansing to a star with a black outline stroke to give it hierarchy as the capital of Michigan. Additionally, I made changes to the line weights of the Interstate and US Hwy systems, most notably changing the interstate system to a dashed line. I made several changes to font types, font colors, and of course, revised the legend for continuity. Lastly, I repositioned and resized the north arrow and legend, and moved the scale bar to better utilize the empty white space on the page.

 Link to Map PDF 

For this lab, I got to practice digitizing and tracing a map of Nosara, Costa Rica in Adobe Illustrator. This gave me an opportunity to take a very busy and out of focus map layout to rearrange the visual hierarchy. The result is a map geared to surfing tourism. I focused on labeling important features like beaches and coastlines, and I used symbols and polygons to create points of interest like lodging, dining, gas stations, emergency services and transportation. This was a great exercise in patience as it was my first attempt digitizing using the draw tool and a steady hand. I put a lot of thought into the layout of the map as well as the choice of symbols and polygons. This really broadened my knowledge of Illustrator and gave me real world insight into the work of modern cartographers.

 Link to PDF