Roberts M – TUBE MAP CENTRAL – 2013-2014 2014

Description

Max Roberts’ 2013–2014 newsletter series examines transit-map design through monthly case studies, experiments and historical rediscoveries. He tests many schematic rules—concentric circles, pure circular arcs, hexalinear, octolinear, curvilinear and concentric approaches—showing each can produce attractive but sometimes unusable results unless matched to a network’s geometry. Roberts digitises historical maps (Paris 1927 sketch, a 1938 Italian Europe index, and a striking late‑era Berlin S‑Bahn map), resolving typographic and colour issues and revealing political and practical contexts. He revisits Massimo Vignelli’s controversial 1972 New York diagram, arguing colour-coding and service complexity, not abstraction alone, weakened it, and details vector-based restorations and the Weekender update. A multi-part Boston project systematically compares design rules, demonstrating trade-offs between geographic fidelity, coherence and simplicity. He also warns against overloading maps with operational details (toilets, interchange quality). Throughout, Roberts emphasizes iterative exploration, matching design priorities to each network, and learning design lessons by recreating and testing alternatives.