ABSTRACT

Persuasive maps are like the printed page that bears symbols, 'sometimes ambiguous and usually artful' that allow in the reader's mind 'a recess for doubt'. This chapter explains how persuasive maps work, what makes a map persuasive and how are they designed. Persuasive maps can be grouped by their function, e.g. advertising, politics, propaganda and the like, but Ian Muehlenhaus, in a recent study of persuasive maps, developed a categorization of rhetorical styles for persuasive maps based on their appearance and their use of map elements. These styles are authoritative, understated, propagandist and sensationalist. Persuasion generalizes with rhetorical purpose. Generalization involves selection, classification, simplification, smoothing, grouping, exaggeration and sometimes displacement. The psychology of colours is important in persuasion. Colour psychology is a much exploited tool in persuasion but is barely noted in most standard cartography texts, which tend to focus on colour perception and colour harmony.