Month: January 2014

Breaking News! Illustrator CC’s “Live Corners” Are AMAZING!

January 17, 2014
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Yesterday, Adobe released updates to many of their Creative Cloud applications, including Illustrator (which is now at version 17.1, if you can believe it!).For me, the absolute standout feature is “Live Corners”, which is a game changer for the design and production of transit maps. Gone are the inconsistent and unpredictable results produced by the “Round Corners” effect, and my trusty but time-consuming workaround – using a set of master curves and manually cutting-and-pasting them into […]

Official Map: Tehran Metro, Iran, 2014

January 16, 2014
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Tehran is not necessarily the first place you think of when it comes to an extensive, modern rapid transit system, but here it is. First opened in 1999, the system now boasts five lines (four rapid transit and one commuter rail), over 140 kilometres of track and carries more than 2 million passengers each day. The map itself is fairly basic and workmanlike, although not unattractive in a blocky sort of way. It handles its […]

Official Map: Île-de-France Regional Transit Map, 2014

January 16, 2014
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Brought to my attention by readers Tony and Guillaume is this striking new regional transit map for the Île-de-France region that surrounds Paris. It shows not only the Paris Métro (lines 1 through 14), but also the tramways (Lines T1 through T7), RER lines (lines A through E) and the Transilien commuter rail network (lines H, J, K, L, N, P, R and U). In addition to all this, it also manages to show a wide array of bus […]

Historical Map: The Plan of Chicago – Proposed Arrangement of Railroad Stations, 1909

January 10, 2014
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A plate from the hugely influential 1909 Plan of Chicago (also known as “the Burnham Plan” after its primary author, the renowned architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham) showing proposed amendments and additions to the railroads of the city. The thin red lines show main line railroads, which were going to be rerouted to two mega-stations to the south and west of the downtown area. To facilitate movement between these stations, an ambitious plan of subterranean […]

Historical Map: “Blue Guides Short Guide to Paris” Paris Métro Map, 1951

January 9, 2014
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An excellent effort to portray the complexities of the Métro with just two colours. A  wide array of different dashed lines allows 15 lines (the 14 Métro lines plus the Ligne de Sceaux) to be differentiated relatively easily. As a guide for tourists, the map wisely concentrates on the central part of Paris, leaving the stations further out to be listed in neat little call out boxes. Source: 217lemurs/Tumblr Paris Metro map from the inside cover […]

Fantasy Future Map: Los Angeles County Light Rail System from the Movie “Her”

January 9, 2014
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I love it when I’m able to fulfill requests from readers. Here’s a note I got from an anonymous follower the other day: The new movie “Her” is set in a futuristic LA with a very un-LA-like amount of public transport use and at one point includes a shot off to the side of the frame of a map showing a much, much bigger LA Metro rail network. Would love to see that on this […]

Historical Map: Tokyo Metro Map on a Passnet Fare Card, 2005

January 8, 2014
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Certainly solves the problem of having to read a map over someone’s shoulder on a crowded train (or resorting to wearing one on your tie). Passnet was a magnetic-stripe fare card in use in the Kanto region from 2000 to 2008: it’s since been replaced by the contactless Pasmo card. Source: Rob Ketcherside/Flickr

Official Map: TILO Commuter Rail – Ticino, Switzerland and Lombardy, Italy, 2014

January 7, 2014
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The emergence of a unified Europe has led to a gradual but noticeable blurring of borders between countries in Europe, which now seem to often exist only on maps. With free and easy travel between the European countries that are bound by the Schengen Agreement, it’s not impossible for people to live in one country and work in another, especially when they live close to a border. This map shows transit services in such an […]

Tutorial: Aligning and Spacing Elements Using “Invisible” Artwork

January 7, 2014
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A pretty simple trick this week, but one that I use all the time. If you need elements to be aligned precisely to another object, and always an exact distance away from that object, simply use a rectangle with no fill and no stroke (an “invisible” object) to define the required alignment and spacing. It won’t be visible in your final artwork, but can be seen in Illustrator’s Outline view for precise adjustment as required. […]