Aviation charts are a great example of how much information you can pack into a map and have that map represents a three-dimensional space that one can navigate through.
The first principle I will touch on with this chart is the concept of progressive disclosure. This principle is more a part of the holistic design of aviation charts as opposed to within this one example. There is one chart that covers the entire area of southern California. Within this area there are also more in-depth detailed Terminal Area Charts (TACs) for San Diego and Los Angeles.
This is the same for most large cities throughout the US. It allows higher detail for more complicated and cluttered areas of airspace and rules. The mini-map in the legend of the chart depicts this layout of information and highlights the current chart in dark blue to alert the user to the area depicted.
Obviously in a map or chart, the principle of wayfinding is paramount in both the design and functionality of the charts. The depiction of the runways is a way this type of chart aids in orientation as well as destination recognition within this concept. The illustration of the runways actually aligns with how the specific airfield is laid out. When you have multiple airfields that are close together, it can sometimes be difficult to tell grey strips of concrete apart when viewing at a distance and height. However, if you know how the runways are going to be oriented based on the direction from which you approach, it resolves ambiguity.
The design principle of color also plays a huge role within the chart. There are three different type of color keys used to display information. One is specific to the lettering and line usage itself. Visibility of information is important when navigating complicated areas. With the volume of information displayed, having a new color for each new type of airspace or symbols would be overwhelming to the user. Therefore they have selected the shades, black, magenta, and blue, to display all of the information on the chart. They use shading and patterns more than color to differentiate areas and zones.
Another way the chart uses color is to highlight areas of dense population in yellow. This is a choice that easily maps to the brain as densely populated areas will be lit up in mostly yellow-toned lights when flying at night. The last color use is chosen with terrain. The scale for terrain coloring is in the chart on the left. This chart also easily maps with how we might see the color of terrain change from a low valley in green to a rocky mountain in red.
These are all charts for flying visually around an area (VFR = Visual Flight Rules). Instrument charts look very different as a pilot no longer has to match the look of the ground up to what he or she sees on a chart.
Hi Christine: thanks for sharing the aviation map! They have to be the best out of best because this is literally the only thing that pilots rely on and the consequences of terrible maps are life-and-death rather than making a couple u-turns on the ground. Compared to other maps presented by your classmates, I noted A LOT more rich information and layering with heavy use of icons and text (number and words) for directionality and aviation purposes. We had a discussion session a while ago during the office hour, that information architecture is really hard for designers. We do learn a lot from these professionally illustrated maps for serious operational purposes.