The concept and importance of style in cartography

Abstract Te paper outlines the concept of cartographic style that is applicable to practically every type of maps. Te structure of the style is rather complex and can be infuenced by geographic space, time and culture. Te purpose of cartographic stylistics is to assure that all the elements of visualization consistently support an appropriate perception of map information by the target group. Tree largely independent criteria, that can be separately applied to diferent map components on the one hand and combine composition and other aspects into one system on the other, are specifed as decorativeness, expressiveness and originality. Four major groups of styles have been defned by a general degree of the graphic enhancement of visualised data: ?minimal?, ?standard?, conventional and conspicuous. Within conventional and conspicuous stylistic groups, more concrete style types such as laconic, constructive, expressive, lightsome, aggressive, sof, antique, luscious, extravagant and artistic are defned.