Hire an AI map designer

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• A base map pick, with the reason
• A colour scheme matched to each data type, checked for colour blindness
• Symbol rules for points, lines and areas
• A label plan with size, order, outlines and placement rules
• A layout plan for title, legend, scale bar, north arrow and credits
• Sample style settings, and checks to run in your own tool

How it does the job well

• Agree the question and the decision it supports before analysing.
• Check the data first: date range, grain, missing values, duplicates and definitions.
• Compare like with like: same period length, definitions and segments.
• Separate what the data shows from what it might mean, and give confidence levels.

Mistakes it avoids

• Spatial analysis, 3D scenes or web app builds.
• Twenty layers where three tell the story.
• Saying a colour check is done when only reasoning was used.
• Reporting a change without checking whether tracking or definitions changed.
• Treating correlation as cause.
• Averages that hide important segments or outliers.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: You have map data and need to choose colours, symbols and labels that readers understand.

• Map purpose. The reader, the one thing to learn and the medium.
• Base map choice. The base map type and why it suits your data.
• Data style. Colour scheme, grouping method and symbol rules for each layer.
• Label plan. Label size, order, outlines and placement rules.
• Layout plan. Where the title, legend, scale bar, north arrow and credits go.
• Style settings. Sample settings to try in your tool, marked untested.

How the work is checked

• The map has one message, and fewer layers than data.
• Colour schemes fit the data type and avoid red against green.
• Print and screen needs are stated separately when both apply.
• Style settings are labelled as untested.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

A second opinion

Before it hands back, your AI reviews the draft the way Herb Lubalin and Massimo Vignelli would. This is a way of reviewing the work. It does not mean they wrote or endorse it.

Capabilities

• Define the purpose and medium. It confirms the reader, the one thing to learn and whether the map is for print, web, a slide or a dashboard.
• Pick the base map. It chooses streets, satellite, terrain, a plain light or dark map, or none, to fit your data and audience.
• Style the data. It matches the colour scheme to the data type and picks how values are grouped into colour bands.
• Set the labels. It sets label size and order by importance, with outlines so text stays readable over busy areas.
• Plan the layout. It places the title, legend, scale bar, north arrow and credits.
• Review and list checks. It checks readability, colour blindness and consistency, and lists what you must test in your own tool.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id gis-cartography-designer only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/gis-cartography-designer/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• What the map must show, and the one thing readers should learn from it
• Who reads it and where, such as print, web, a slide or a dashboard
• Your data layers and what each field means, such as population by district
• The map area and scale, or the zoom levels for a web map
• Your GIS tool, such as QGIS, ArcGIS or Mapbox (optional)
• Brand colours or fonts (optional)

Helpful context (optional)

• A screenshot of your current map.
• Your brand colours and fonts.
• A short note on who will read the map and what they decide from it.

Tools and access

• QGIS or ArcGIS: You apply the style here. The agent plans it but cannot touch your data.
• Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini in a chat: Good for the design plan. Attach a screenshot of your map if the AI can read images.

Functions and deliverables

• Map designer: Get a map design plan with base map, colour scheme, symbols, labels, legend and layout for print or web, plus a colour blindness check.
  • A base map pick, with the reason
  • A colour scheme matched to each data type, checked for colour blindness
  • Symbol rules for points, lines and areas
  • A label plan with size, order, outlines and placement rules
  • A layout plan for title, legend, scale bar, north arrow and credits
  • Sample style settings, and checks to run in your own tool
  Source: Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors.
• Excel print layout fixer: Share a workbook and paper size. Get readable print settings and page checks.
  • print-ready.xlsx, a PDF review copy when a renderer is available, and print-checks.md.
  • A record of source files, changes and check results
  • Missing facts and any checks that could not run
• Markdown to web page maker: Share Markdown with at least 100 lines. Get a branded HTML page with a contents bar, search and code-copy buttons.
  • One HTML page you can share as a single file
  • A contents bar that stays on screen as you scroll
  • A search box that filters the page as you type
  • Copy buttons on code blocks
  • Your brand colors and fonts on the page
  Source: Alireza Rezvani.
• AI training data labeling planner: Plan how to label data for your AI. Share the task and sample records, with personal details removed, and get label rules and quality checks.
  • A label schema, reviewer guide, sample plan, provenance record, and quality review plan.
  Source: Magnus Hedemark.
• Metric definition writer: Share a metric, calculation and business use. Get a YAML definition, validation results and questions for the data owner.
  • A filled metric, dimension or entity YAML
  • A validation report
  • dbt-ready field names
  • Notes on edge cases
  Source: Nimrod Fisher.
• Herb Lubalin: Develop a wordmark, headline or poster through Herb Lubalin’s recorded approach. Make the letters carry one idea and check how well they read.
  • Your problem worked on the way Herb Lubalin would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Herb Lubalin's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step
• Massimo Vignelli: Plan a layout or visual system using Massimo Vignelli’s recorded approach. Start with meaning, set clear rules and check what readers understand.
  • Your problem worked on the way Massimo Vignelli would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Massimo Vignelli's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step

Tasks you can use it for

• You have map data and need to choose colours, symbols and labels that readers understand.
• A map for a report, poster or website looks crowded or hard to read.
• You need one consistent style across a series of maps.
• You are choosing a base map, such as streets, satellite or a plain grey one, for your data.

Limits to check before starting

• You need the analysis itself, such as hot spots, distances or areas. Use the Spatial data scientist or the GIS analyst.
• You need a 3D scene. Use the 3D map scene developer.
• You need an interactive web map built. Use the Web GIS Developer agent.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Add the pack to your AI as a skill. If you cannot, start a new chat and paste SKILL.md, then references/source-agent.md.
• Say what the map must show, who reads it and where it will appear.
• List your layers and fields. Names and a few sample values are enough. Leave out private data.
• Read the purpose line first. If it is not the one thing readers should learn, fix it before you look at the styling.
• Apply the style in your GIS tool. Then show the map to someone who has not seen it and ask what it means.
• Test the colours in a colour blindness simulator, and send back anything that clashes.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/gis-cartography-designer for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.