Roberts M – TUBE MAP CENTRAL – 2021 2021

Description

The 2021 Map of the Month series chronicles a year of mapping experiments and design reflections. Key projects included a complex Dutch elections map—using cluster analysis and a top-down coding approach to reveal two political blocs—and a Paris schematic that benefits from rotating the octolinear grid. Repeated Moscow Metro studies showed hybrid (curvilinear orbital, octolinear radial) designs often outperform pure octolinear or curvilinear approaches, prompting systematic testing of all variable combinations. Other highlights: an updated Cold War Berlin S-Bahn map restoring the Ringbahn; four generational tube-style personal-finance maps for first direct built from survey data; extensive Washington, DC schematisation sequences (tetra/hexa/octolinear, isomers, curvilinear hybrids) emphasizing usability and crowd-management potential; refreshed historical London and Overground diagrams; Arts & Crafts lettering and triptych maps for an exhibition; and a Harwich–Hoek ferry poster plus an Essex coastal concentric map. Recurring themes are methodical prototyping, matching design rules to network structure, openness to hybrids, and the need for usability testing or automated design exploration.