The Commission on Map Design co-sponsored a session at the meeting of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) in Portland, Oregon in 2012. The purpose of the session, spread over a number of activities was to provide a forum to discuss aesthetics in cartography; to begin to bring together thoughts on the definition, purpose and value of aesthetics for practicing cartographers and those simply making maps.
A special issue of Cartographic Perspectives (Vol 73) has been published that records much of the work at this meeting and provides an important and timely expression of aesthetics in cartography. The full set of papers are freely available as HTML or PDF downloads here and an editorial written by Commission Vice Chair Alexander Kent along with Chair Kenneth Field and Vice Chairs Bernie Jenny and Anja Hopfstock introduces the issue by discussing cartographic design and aesthetics as an FAQ.