[OSM-dev] Default map style on osm.org

[Eugene Alvin Villar]

On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 7:02 PM, Peter K <peathal at yahoo.de> wrote:

>  I know that this is highly subjective: But why has the default map style
> to be that ugly? I don't mean it as a rant, I know how difficult it is to
> create something like this. I only say that it is 'ugly' because I know
> there are a lot better and several alternatives.
>
> [...]
>

I think that being pretty is not the goal of the default map style at all.
The primary goal of the default style is to expose as much of the OSM data
as possible. And because of that, you will eventually run out of colors,
line styles, icons, and such elements to display leading to clutter and
places where there is not enough contrast (such as trunk roads alongside
forests).

As Frederik mentioned, the default style is a mapper's map. It's there to
provide instant feedback to mapping efforts.

That said, I could agree that for first-time and maybe non logged-in users,
we can show a "prettier" map. And for logged-in users, provide them with
the option to select the default map layer.

Also, the default mapper's style could still use some improvement on the
aesthetics department. Now that the style sheet has been ported to
CartoCSS, I would expect improvements to be done.
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