As this is my last week exploring my curiosities being unemployed, I've found myself perusing the beauty of Puget Sound. I recently moved to Seattle and have been incredibly happy with the region and wanted to explore the different ways of visualizing the area through multiple geographies. I've put together a map hybridizing the bythymetric and land elevation aspects of the region all overlayed with the regions municipalities as type.
I'll let the map do most of the talking, but for those curious about its conceptualization, please continue reading. The bathymetry and land elevation data sets are actually from the same stitched DEM - just with two different queries and color schemes. I was amazed to see how much of the Seattle area is at sea level, but is contrasted so quickly by high-rising hills and eventually mountain ranges. Therefore white represents land mass that is close to sea level - blue is Puget Sound and the greyscale is the rising land around the sound. These schema bring out the structure of the region as a geologic phenomena. The two DEM layers have been slightly blurred to give a more holistic feel. My extremely overgeneralized type-based municipalities are what rounds out the map. The sans-serif typeface (Open Sans) gives a modern, geometric touch to such a natural and free-flowing environment.
All in all, this map is built on curiosity. There's generalizations and municipalities missing due to space, but I find it mesmerizing to look at and once again, I find myself appreciating the new place in the world in which I live.
- Full version -
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