contour lines idea

[Redrobes]

Hello and welcome to the guild.

I agree with your observation. At least on OS maps they always print the altitude of the contour line such that the text points the correct way up as you look up the hill but its often hard to find that reference in all the mess especially when there are built up areas since buildings and the contour lines are in the same colour.

The problem is that there can be a lot of contour lines. If you make them anything other than a very thin line then it can overwhelm a map. OS are very unlikely to change their style since its been in use for ages - a hundred years or so.

In the "Old Series" of OS maps the relief is done in a different way. There are many ways to show relief and most European maps show it very differently to OS which might be due to places like Austria having such high mountains so lots of lines is impractical.

It would be good if you can post an image showing a map with the style of contours that you have in mind and we can see exactly how you would represent them.

Another option is to mark the high point or low point with a mark that is different. Then at least you can follow the contour lines up/down the hill until you determine which was was the up direction.

I think its also true that 2D maps will be going out of fashion and use with the advent of mobile phones and other dynamic displays that can show 3D maps and present the relief in other methods that don't have the restriction of a 2D piece of paper.