Matt Johnson sends these photos of great ads that use a subway map theme that he saw in the Montreal Metro on a recent trip. The interesting thing here is that these aren’t created by an ad agency riffing off the subway map theme, but are produced by the transit agency (the Société de transport de Montréal or STM) themselves, as informational ads regarding public transport and upcoming popular events.

The ads have a nice consistent design look that ties in well with other elements of the STM’s corporate identity. The four colours of the Metro map are integrated nicely, although the one thing the ads do is make the Metro map itself look a little dowdy and old-fashioned in comparison! While the rest of the STM’s look has moved on, the map is still firmly rooted in the past.