Another reason a GISer might turn to the neutral side has to do with confidence.
As the GISer becomes more confident in design, he realizes that color is not the absolute
necessity that he once thought it was. His skills at placing objects on the page in
appealing ways and coordinating line thicknesses and other non‑color aspects of the
design might make him want to ease up a bit on color in order to allow those other
design elements to work effectively. In this way, the color is lessened so as to be less
intrusive on the design. And finally, yet another reason for using a neutral scheme
is simply that we want to bring variety to our map products, and what better way
than to surprise people with an elegant and tasteful black, white, and gray map. In a
time when people have access to color at every turn, these maps can be refreshing,
surprising, and attention grabbing.