Roberts M – TUBE MAP CENTRAL – 2018 2018

Description

Across 2018 the Map of the Month series examined transit-map design, history and metaphor. Key themes include formal choices (Beck’s rectangular Circle Line vs the impractical ellipse), and practical constraints—typography, poster and pocket sizes, and how station names often dictate map geometry. Historical detective work uncovered early schematic pioneers beyond Beck: obscure 1930s Chicago and Copenhagen diagrams and George Dow’s ambitious 1929 LNER map with pictograms, challenging the canonical history. Investigations into New York suggested a possibly abandoned mid-1960s prototype that foreshadowed Vignelli’s 1972 map. Creative projects ranged from state-space diagrams for classic puzzles, tube-style Brexit maps to help businesses plan regionally, and playful reworkings (Ulysses and Swissair airline “rapid transit” recreations). Case studies of Manchester and Amsterdam explored double-concentric and concentric-U designs to express network fragmentation and service changes. Recurring conclusions: schematic metaphors are powerful but limited; design choices must balance clarity, usability, history and practical production constraints.