真理报上无真理
‘Less is more’ is arguably the most often quoted rule in the history of design.
“越少越好”可以说是设计史上最常引用的规则。
Designers from Christian Dior (fashion) to Saul Bass (graphic design) to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (furniture) have thrived on the principle. It’s an idea that even applies to cartographers.
从Christian Dior (时尚)到Saul Bass (图形设计)再到Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (家具)的设计师都在这个原理上蓬勃发展。 这个想法甚至适用于制图师。
地图制作中的“少即是多” (‘Less is more’ in Mapmaking)
Going back in history, mapmaking was much more of an interpretative skill, than an exercise in pure geography and geometry. Early mapmakers were almost ‘parchment alchemists’, collecting existing maps, sea charts, captain’s journals, logbooks, traditions, word of mouth, legend and hearsay, and blending it all together into a brand new creation.
回顾历史，制图不仅仅是一种纯粹的地理和几何练习，更是一种解释技能。 早期的地图制作者几乎是“羊皮纸炼金术士”，他们收集了现有的地图，海图，船长的日记，日志，传统，口口相传，传说和传闻，并将其融合为一个全新的作品。
And without satellites and GPS to disprove them, a flawed map could still remain the best available resource on an area for centuries to come.
如果没有卫星和GPS来证明它们，那么有缺陷的地图可能仍然是该地区未来几个世纪以来最佳的可用资源。
The mythical ‘Mountains of Kong‘ appeared on maps for a hundred years simply because no-one had yet located the mouth of the Niger River, and it was assumed a mighty mountain range must be diverting it inland.
神话般的“空中山脉 ”出现在地图上已有一百年之久，这仅仅是因为还没有人找到尼日尔河的河口，而且人们认为必须将一个巨大的山脉转移到内陆。
But what about those ‘white spaces’? The uncharted areas? The unknown?
但是那些“空白”呢？ 未知领域？ 未知？
As humans, we really prefer not to admit when we don’t know something, and those white spaces seem to be broadcasting our ignorance. You can understand why mapmakers often felt compelled to fill-in those gaps.
作为人类，我们真的不愿在我们不知道某事时就承认，而那些空白似乎正在传播我们的无知。 您可以理解为什么地图制作者经常感到不得不填补这些空白。
Sometimes that may just involve using a very large text label — a huge ‘A…..F…..R…..I…..C…..A‘ might carve its way majestically through the interior of a continent.
有时，这可能仅涉及使用非常大的文本标签-巨大的' A ... F..R..I ... C ... A '可能会雄伟地穿越整个大陆内部。
Other times the cartographer may fill-in the empty spaces with lavish illustrations — perhaps drawn from stories they’d heard from travellers of crocodiles or monsters or exotically-robed natives.
在其他时候，制图师可能会在空白处充斥大量插图-也许是从他们从鳄鱼，怪兽或异国风情的土生土长的旅行者那里听到的故事中提取的。
This is precisely what happened with early european maps of Africa. For hundreds of years african maps were cluttered with animals, rivers and mighty mountain ranges — even though almost nothing was definitively known of these areas.
这正是欧洲早期的非洲地图所发生的情况。 几百年来，非洲地图上到处都是动物，河流和险峻的山脉-尽管对这些地区几乎一无所知。
This all changed with a single map.
一张地图就改变了这一切。
In 1780, a frenchman named Jean-Baptiste Louis Clouet, produced a new map that included only scientifically surveyed data.
1780年，一位名叫让·巴蒂斯特 ( Jean-Baptiste)Louis Clouet的法国人制作了一张仅包含科学调查数据的新地图。
It’s clearly a very different-looking map. Following the ‘less is more’ edict, Clouet swept away the clutter and guesswork of all previous maps — and in the process had a big impact in europe.
显然，这是一张看起来非常不同的地图。 遵循“少即是多”的法令，克劳埃特(Clouet)消除了所有以前的地图的混乱状况和猜测-在此过程中对欧洲产生了重大影响。
然后每个人都过着幸福的生活？ (And Everyone Lived Happily Ever After?..)
Unfortunately, not really. This was a case where truth and accuracy didn’t necessarily help to produce a happy story.
不幸的是，并非如此。 在这种情况下，真实性和准确性并不一定有助于产生一个快乐的故事。
Clouet’s map — with all its wide, empty expanses — fundamentally changed the way european nations looked at Africa. It showed exactly what was up for grabs for a colonizing power.
克劳埃特(Clouet)的地图-幅员辽阔，空荡荡-从根本上改变了欧洲国家看待非洲的方式。 它确切地表明了要争取殖民力量的原因。
Over the next century, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain all laid claim to huge swathes of the continent. The effects of this are still keenly felt to this day.
在下个世纪中，英国，法国，德国，比利时，意大利，葡萄牙和西班牙都宣称拥有该大陆的广阔地带。 直到今天，人们仍然强烈地感受到这种影响。
Clouet didn’t know it at the time, but his elegant map became a ‘for sale’ sign.
Clouet当时不知道，但他那优雅的地图成了“待售”的标志。
Perhaps this a case where less ended up being less.
也许在这种情况下，少即是少。
从SitePoint设计新闻稿重新发布 (Republished from the SitePoint Design Newsletter)
真理报上无真理
778
被折叠的 条评论
为什么被折叠?
到【灌水乐园】发言
