You can fix the pushpins, but the names are a bit more difficult!
For the pushpins, have you tried the different symbols? If not, go down to the drawing toolbar, and select the pushpin symbol, and a little popup menu with 300+ symbols appears. The default "black pushpin" could be clearer, so I often use one of the coloured shapes or coloured flags.
There are different sizes "big red circle" is a good one
If these aren't large enough you can import your own by pressing the Custom button at the top of this menu. You can draw your own in a drawing package, find some suitable clipart, or I think John Meyer ( support-pc.com ) has a pushpin collection for sale.
The text is harder to make disappear. You can switch the roads off which helps to make the maps clearer. You can also shrink the font size to the smallest setting - this will make the names of the smaller towns disappear. However, some names will still be drawn.
Depending on the requirement, you could make an image and edit it in a drawing package, but this is slow and tedious. You also have to keep the MS copyright message to keep within the EULA.
Richard