How to label oceans...
I find ocean labels a very interesting part of the map composition. It is generally placed in a large, mostly empty (compared to land features) area. It must balance complex land forms filled with towns, cities, mountains, lakes, and other features. Here I show and discuss several of the ways an ocean label may be placed and its effect on the map composition
Straight text labels
Here is a simple base map to use for this demonstration. The first example below uses a simple, straight ocean label. Straight text is in general a nice choice. Straight horizontal lines form a static label that doesn�t compete with the landform, but the font size and weight balance the landform. This is an important design consideration because too much contrast draws attention to itself as the eye seeks relief from the complexity of landforms with many cities, labels, and other topographic features.
Diagonal text labels
An alternative is a diagonal text label as seen in the example below. A diagonal line is more dynamic that a horizontal line, and in this case draws more attention away from the landform. This works well when the theme of the map is the ocean and the map reader�s attention is desired in this area. The diagonal also stops the eye from wandering from the landform, through the ocean, and off the map. Instead, the eye stops, rests, perhaps briefly surveys the lower part of the map, and returns to the landform. Perfect if the landform is the theme of the map.
While the diagonal in the previous example forms a visual stop, the next diagonal example doesn�t form the visual stop. Instead it acts as an arrow leading the eye to the bottom left corner and off the map. Direction of the diagonal is important.
Curved text labels
Adding a curve emphasizes this even more as seen next.