Navigation Chart Design

During the XIIth International Hydrographic Conference, held at Monaco in 1982, Anderson and this writer discussed Communication of the Nautical Chart. In that paper they traced the historical development of the nautical chart, noting how it had evolved and that features of the chart today had resulted more by evolution than by actual design. They noted, for instance, that although present-day charts are often produced by computer and make limited use of colour, they are not significantly different from charts produced some two hundred years ago. Computer methods have been used primarily to copy the work that was carried out so skilfully by the draughtsmen of earlier years. The authors after examining the historical development of the chart then touched lightly on some particular Canadian problems and went on to discuss the first principles of chart design. In particular they suggested that modern cartographic communications research might offer some help in developing the future design of the nautical chart. This paper is therefore a sequel to that work and is directed to presenting some ideas and furthering the discussion.