It’s always fun to do a comparison between old and new maps, and we have a great opportunity with this very recent rebranding of the Glasgow Subway (the third-oldest subway system in the world at 115 years of age, after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro). A deceptively simple system, the Subway consists of a single loop with 15 stations — trains run clockwise on the Outer Circle, and anti-clockwise on the Inner Circle. If the font used on the new map (second image below) looks familiar, it should — it’s Klavika, also used (in a slightly modified form) as the Facebook logo.

The new map definitely lifts the corporate branding standards of the SPT — the map ties in nicely with the new website and station signage and looks new, clean and modern. It’ll be interesting to see if the heavy use of Klavika — a very “now” typeface — dates this work badly in a few years time. Interestingly, the new map doesn’t indicate which direction the Inner and Outer Circles run in, although the arrows were pretty hideous on the old map.

One element of the old map that I do miss with the new is the lovely burgundy colour — it seems like this could have worked very well with the greys in the new map and could have been a very distinctive accent colour. I also feel that the station dots have gone from being too big (on the old map) to too small and disconnected from the station names on the new.

Our rating: Professionally done, modern but perhaps altogether just a little too slick. Three-and-a-half-stars.

Source: SPT website