This brand new map was sent my way by quite a few people last week, so here it is! If the name “Ilya Birman” sounds familiar, it’s because his map of the Moscow Metro came second in the design competition a few years ago that was eventually won by Art Lebedev Studios. I wrote about Ilya’s entry here at the time.

Now, Ilya and designer Alexander Karavaev have turned their attention to the tram network of the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, creating this brand new official map. (And if the name “Chelyabinsk” sounds familiar, that’s because it’s where that giant meteor explosion was caught on dashcam a few years back.)

The map is a very handsome diagrammatic representation of the network with a few design innovations that I haven’t seen before. The most noticeable is the slightly flared, almost trapezoidal marker for stations. They certainly do the job with style, and it’s nice to see something different from the usual London Underground-styled “tick”.

I’m not quite so enamoured with the terminus station route number designations, which seem a little over-designed to me. The faux perspective as the route lines rush “upwards” towards the viewer together with the angle and shiny glow of the route number boxes is just too much. The blurb on the projects website boldly declares that these are “the most beautiful termini symbol(s) in the history of transport infographics”, but I just can’t agree with that. I applaud Ilya and Alex for trying something new and out of the box, but I don’t think it quite comes off.

More successful is the slightly rough and uneven “pencil” treatment of the subsidiary grey bus and trolleybus lines. It looks great, and it’s not too forced or overdone. The subtle pattern in the green parkland areas is also quite nice, and I do love the inclusion of the children’s railway in the main park. The special permit zone for the tram line to the city’s metalworking factory is also deftly handled. 

Our rating: A very attractive diagrammatic map with some innovative design features. Some come off, some don’t – but credit is due for pushing the envelope and trying new things! Three-and-a-half stars.

Source: Ilya and Alex’s project website (in Russian; lots of detail images)