All posts filed under: Questions

Question: How Many Subways Have You Used?

December 22, 2015
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A question from Richard Archambault via Twitter: how many metros/subways have you personally visited? Favourite? Answer: Oooo, good question! Using the full list of rail rapid transit systems in Mark Ovenden’s Transit Maps of the World gives this list (in approximate order of first use): Sydney (suburban rail, monorail, light rail) London (Underground) Paris (Métro) Rome (Metro) Melbourne (tram) Ghent (tram) Milan (commuter/regional rail to Como, not tram or Metro) Naples (Circumvesuviano line only, not Metro) […]

Reader Question: How do you decide on dimensions and aspect ratio when creating a map?

November 13, 2015
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Question: How do you decide on the overall dimensions and aspect ratio when creating a new map? Answer: For my personal map projects, the aspect ratio is the first thing I decide upon. I generally try to stick with standard formats that are compatible with framing – these being 1:1 (square), and 3:2 or 4:3 rectangles.  Generally, I use 3:2 the most – 36″ x 24″ and 24″ x 16″ are great finished sizes and […]

Reader Question: What are the Most Common “Line Colors” for Transit Lines?

September 29, 2015
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Question: What are the most common “line colors” for transit lines? I’ve heard of blue lines, red lines, yellow/green/silver/purple/orange/pink lines, but is there anything I’m missing? Once a transit system gets over that amount of colors, do they usually switch to Line 1/A Train/etc.? Answer: To answer your question, I’m going to point you towards Nick Rougeux’s excellent “Global Subway Spectrum” web page, which breaks down the route colours used by rapid transit systems around the world […]

Reader Question: Have You Seen a Christchurch “Tube Map” Tea Towel?

July 15, 2015
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Question: Several years ago I was in Christchurch, New Zealand, and a friend had a tea towel with a (fictitious) underground transit map of the city, in the style of the London Underground. I’ve searched long and hard for it, or its creators, to no avail. The best I turned up were a few pictures, which I collected on a Pinterest board. Have you encountered it, or ones like it? Answer: I hadn’t actually seen […]

Reader Question: What’s a Good Size to Draw a Transit Map?

July 14, 2015
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Reader Question: I dabble a bit in designing fictional transit maps,but I’ve always wondered about these two questions (if I may). 1) What is a standard and/or good canvas size when drawing a map? 2) When drawing a map where you want to indicate multimodality, but give priority to one mode (say, a metro map showing light rail or commuter connections), how is that best achieved? Is it preferable to use icons at stations or […]

Reader Question: Why Show the “Jog” in the DC Metro’s Red Line?

July 6, 2015
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Question from lukasmaps: On your DC Metro Map redesign, why do you show the little “jog” on the red line between Van Ness-UDC and Tenlyytown-AU? No offense to your excellent work, but it ruins the visual clarity shown on the rest of the map and frankly, gets on my nerves. Again, no offense to this otherwise beautiful map. Answer: This is a fantastic question and one that I can use to illustrate how local knowledge […]

Reader Question: Are there any resources available for exporting city map data to vector format for importing into Illustrator?

June 14, 2015
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Question: Are there any resources available for exporting city map data (similar to Google Maps, etc) to vector format for importing into Illustrator? Do you utilize any pre-existing data for your projects, or do you simple start from scratch? I’m thinking of your Dallas streetcar map in particular. Answer: To be honest, most of the time, I just start from scratch. My very low-tech workflow is to quickly grab some screenshots from Google Maps or similar […]

Reader Question: Do you know or have a good detailed transit map of Germany’s ICE/IC/RE/etc. services?

May 14, 2015
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Question: Hi Cameron, Do you know or have a good detailed transit map of Germany’s ICE/IC/RE/etc. services? I’ve Googled for it and either I’m not using the right words or I need to be using German terminology for it as what I find is lacking. Thanks! Answer: There are maps of current ICE and IC services available on the Deutsche Bahn website, but they’re pretty terrible (although they do give you an overview of where the […]

Reader Question: What’s Your Opinion of Pablo Impallari’s Cabin Font?

April 22, 2015
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Question: What’s your opinion of Pablo Impallari’s Cabin font? The first time I saw it it screamed “transit map” at me, and I’m curious to know what you think. Answer: Seeing as the author’s own description of the typeface says this… The Cabin Font is a humanist sans inspired by Edward Johnston’s and Eric Gill’s typefaces… … I think that it would probably qualify as a fine wayfinding/transit map typeface just by pedigree alone. More Johnston […]

Reader Question: Is there a reason that props departments often alter transit maps used in movies?

April 22, 2015
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Question: Is there a reason that props departments often alter transit maps used in movies? Is it to get around copyright issues? Answer: Absolutely! Almost every official transit map in the world is copyrighted and owned by the agency it represents. This means that permission – and often, a hefty licensing fee – is required to use the map for commercial purposes. So, rather than go through that, most TV shows/movies will quickly pull together […]