So every man and his dog is sending me links to the new Toronto TTC/Mario World mash-up map by Dave Delisle (prints for sale here). It’s definitely well executed, but I couldn’t help but think I’d seen something similar before…
A couple of minutes of Googling later: a similarly-themed (although aesthetically a little different) map of the Boston MBTA done last year by Adam Summerville (prints here).
I’d just like to make it clear that I do not think that Dave’s map is in any way derivative of Adam’s – the aesthetics are quite different in both maps. I just thought it would be interesting to compare how two artists approach a similar concept.
Both maps are excellently done, although I slightly prefer the Boston map for its more varied terrain. Which one do you like?
One of the things I love about running this blog is when amateur map designers send me their work for review. The quality of these maps is often amazing, and this one of Istanbul’s rapid transit network by Istanbul native Kerim Bayer is a fantastic example.
Design- and quality-wise, it far surpasses the official map (shown above for comparative purposes), which is a bit of a shambles: weird angles, muddy colours, poorly drawn and a bit old-fashioned. By contrast, Kerim’s map is bright, clear and modern.
Have we been there? No.
What we like: It’s obvious a lot of thought and attention to detail has gone into this map, including what parts of Istanbul’s transit system actually constitute “rapid transit”. As a result, dedicated BRT bus routes are shown, but the city’s two short gondola cable cars are not.
The general layout of the map is very pleasing, with nice even spacing between stations and well thought-out interchanges between lines. I especially like the addition of walking distances between platforms to give an idea of how long a transfer might take.
The colours used throughout the map are bright and modern – the substitution of light blue for water instead of a heavy grey makes a huge difference to the mood of the map.
What we don’t like: Despite looking fantastic, there is one huge drawback with Kerim’s map: everything is just too small in comparison to the finished size of the map. The PDF Kerim sent me is around 41 inches wide, or just over a metre. This seems to me to be a realistic final size for an in-car map, or a map you might find at a train station. However, his station labels at that final size are set at a mere 12 points – far too small to be read at any distance, or on a moving train.
Similarly, I feel that the route lines themselves are a little thin and spindly at the map’s final size – especially for the “under construction” routes, which have a white stroke down the middle of the line, making them very visually weak at any distance. I’d also like to see a little more differentiation between the different modes of transit shown on the map: at the moment it’s a little hard to tell which lines are BRT as opposed to tram or light rail, for example.
Finally, Kerim’s map sacrifices some information shown on the official map, such as the location of park-and-ride stations. While it helps his map look cleaner, this is important information for commuters and should be considered for inclusion.
Our rating: A beautiful-looking map that suffers slightly because of real-world considerations, but still an amazing piece of work that shows great potential. Four stars.
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.
Here’s another interesting planning map from Sydney, Australia, showing a vision for the future that never quite got there.
If you look to the far centre right of the map, you can see the planned Eastern Suburbs line… including a never-built extension from the (now current) end of the line at Bondi Junction to Kingsford. There’s also an extra station at Woollahra in the section that did finally get built.
It’s these details that allow me to date the map fairly accurately: it’s post-1970, as the distances are in kilometres, not miles, but before 1976, which is when the extension to Kingsford was scrapped.
Have we been there? A little early for my time in Sydney (we moved there from Armidale in 1979).
What we like: A fascinating glimpse of what might have been. Although I’m not sure it’s intended, the thickness of the route lines throughout the system seem to act as an indicator of service frequency – something that is being seen more on modern transit maps. The old NSW Rail “arrow of indecision” is a pretty awesome 1970s logo.
What we don’t like: Pretty rough and ready, with distances being pasted on wherever they would fit. Not really for general consumption.
Our rating: Of historical interest for the vision of the Eastern Suburbs line alone, but doesn’t look great. Two-and-a-half stars.
Here’s an interesting map from my hometown of Sydney, Australia from around 1969. Unusually, it doesn’t display different services as separate coloured route lines: everything is shown as one uniform orange line. It also displays the distance from Sydney Central station (in miles), and the elevation (in feet) of each station. Non-electrified lines are shown as dashed lines. These odd features lead me to believe that this is a map for internal NSW Railways use, and was never intended for use by the general public.
Our rating: Of historical interest, but pretty bland and bare-bones. 2 stars.
Great old map of Boston’s extensive commuter rail network. I really like the way the subway lines are included to give scale to the whole network, and I especially like the square that the main interchange stations on the subway lines make — an understated design choice that gives a nice central focal point to the map.
I suspect that the odd colours of the Orange and Red Lines are due to aging ink discolouration rather than being that colour originally.
Just as I post about the in-car maps on Portland, Oregon’s MAX trains, I notice that TriMet has just released a new version (pardon the bad cell phone photo; I was getting off the train as I snapped it!).
The new map has two important changes from the previous one: JELD-WEN Field is correctly named (instead of the old PGE Park – showing exactly why commercial names on transit maps are a Bad Idea), and the South PSU stations are shown as opening later this year.
Although the map initially looks quite similar, there have been a lot of little tweaks and amendments. The route lines now have a thin gap between them, whereas they butted up to each other before. Stations are now denoted by a small white circle contained wholly within the route line, which works better than the big black-edged dots that made every station look like a transit station; although now perhaps there’s not enough emphasis on important stations.
I really miss the line that joins the Rose Quarter TC and Interstate/Rose Quarter stations – that one-block walking transfer is a hugely important part of the MAX system, and needs to be shown.
Not a big fan of the way that the Green Line has to cross over the Red and Blue to head south after Gateway, but the only other alternative is to cross the Green Line under the Red and Blue as the lines leave downtown (as I did on my Unified Rail Map of Portland), which may not be so practical on a map like this.
Overall, I think this map is a step in the right direction from the previous one, but it’s still not fantastic.
Following on from yesterday’s post, here’s an amazing resource for those of you interested in trains or 1960s corporate design. The Doublearrow website showcases almost the entire British Rail Corporate Identity Manual… not just its original 1965 release, but also additions and amendments released throughout the years, all the way up to 1985. This comprehensive document covers just about every aspect of the BR identity, from the symbol and typefaces through station signage, vehicle livery and staff uniforms. Definitely worth checking out!
A lovely example of British Rail’s house style of the 1960s and 70s, now residing at the East Anglian Railway Museum. This map is from between 1965 (the introduction of the “double-arrow” British Rail identity), and 1978 (when the “Eastern” component of the logo changed from sitting in an outlined box to a solid box like the British Rail text). Can anyone date it more definitively?
