Submitted by Benjamin, who says:
It’s a few years old, but this New York Philharmonic poster by Djamika Smith is pretty cool.
Transit Maps says:
A fun idea, nicely executed. I particularly like that the route lines appear to be labelled as “A” through “G”: the notes of a musical scale.
Source: Djamika Smith’s website – link no longer active
I first covered Igor’s vision for an improved rapid transit map for Kiev way back in 2011, and I was impressed with what I saw even back then. He’s continued to work on it and improve it since then, and it finally seems that his hard work is paying off. The latest version of his map is now being placed in some Metro trains as a pilot program, hopefully leading to full acceptance as the official map.
Igor sent an earlier version of the map to me for a technical review, and I was very pleased to be able to offer my thoughts to him, although I only had a few minor issues with it. It’s a very accomplished piece, and certainly miles ahead of the old official map.
There are a lot more details about the design of this map, with comparisons against earlier versions and the old official map at the Agents of Change blog. It’s in Ukrainian, but Google Translate does a pretty decent job. Most importantly, the article shows the thought process, patience and attention to detail that’s required to make a top-notch transit map.
If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, then H.C. Beck must have been blushing when this diagram of railway services in Sydney, Australia was produced in 1939. Designed just six years after Beck’s famous London Underground diagram first appeared, it mimics the original’s style almost perfectly, even to the point of using an almost exact copy of the iconic Underground roundel on the cover. If nothing else, it shows how quickly Beck’s idea was adopted around the world.
I’m always on the lookout for great vintage transit maps to add to my online store, but the high-resolution scan of the original map on the Wikimedia Commons (left) is unfortunately way over-sharpened and not suitable for reproduction, even with retouching. So – as is my wont – I decided to redraw it from scratch in Adobe Illustrator.
Technically, the original map is nicely drawn, with fairly consistent 45-degree angles and corner radii throughout. However, there are a couple of spacing oddities that I decided to fix in my version of the diagram. Firstly, the label for Kirkham station on the Camden line was sitting inexplicably higher than the other labels along the same branch; and secondly, I moved all the stations on the Richmond line a little further up and to the left to give the label for Seven Hills station a little more room to breathe. Apart from that, everything is faithfully reproduced from the original.
The typography of the map was a little more challenging than the layout. The notices to the top right of the map are obviously set in Gill Sans, although it’s an ever-so-slightly different cut to the modern digital typeface that I have. However, the rest of the labels are actually very neat and precise hand-lettering, much as Beck’s early maps had (he described his lettering as “Johnston-like”, as its form somewhat approximated that of the Underground’s official typeface). Matching hand-lettering with a modern font is next to impossible, so I used one that matched the metrics of the lettering as closely as possible — an almost perfectly circular capital “O” being the major ingredient required. The labels also have some idiosyncratic and variable letter spacing, which I tried my best to emulate. Once I had set all the labels, I converted all the text to paths and roughened them up to simulate the more organic feeling of the original hand lettering. It’s not perfect, but it looks pretty good.
Prints of the redrawn map are for sale in my online store, and comments on the diagram are always welcome!
Lovely little simplified network map that shows the SEPTA network in the mid-1970s, when commuter rail service was provided by the Reading Company and Penn Central… hence the two separate Chestnut Hill stations in the network (now denoted as East and West). Although the two systems are noted separately in the legend, there’s very little – if any – difference in the way they’re depicted on the map, although each line is labelled with its owner’s name in any case. Only interchange and terminus stations are labelled, but the map is only meant to give an overview of the network (the “big picture” if you will), so I don’t mind that so much.
Source: Trainweb.org website
The map of the New York subway system that featured in The Warriors was replaced in the same year that the film was released, 1979.
The map seen in the film was designed by Massimo Vignelli and was first introduced by the Metropolitan Transport Authority in 1972.
The Warriors themselves had a few things to say about Vignelli’s map:
AJAX: Figure out how many stops to the Union Square.
COCHISE: Hey c’mon man, that’s not a map for Rembrandt!
FOX: It’s alright, nobody can read these maps anyway.
Everyone’s a critic, even in the movies.
Submitted by John Mullany via email.
Here’s an interesting rail planning map from 1969, presumably produced in association with the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan. It outlines all the improvements planned for Melbourne’s metropolitan rail system, including a whole bunch of new branches as shown in blue. According to the map, the works depicted were to be completed by 1985.
Fast forward to 2015 – some 30 years past that deadline – and only the City Loop (opened between 1981 and 1985) and the extension to Westona (1985, now part of a loop on the Werribee Line) have been built. The rest remain unrealised, with the Doncaster Line being a fine example of a project stuck forever in “planning hell”.
Submitted by peopleneedaplacetogo.
When you have a project that’s going to shut down the central section of one of your busiest commuter rail lines completely for four weeks of summer over the next four years, you’d better make sure that you communicate effectively with your stakeholders. The RATP seems to be doing just that with the massive RER A rail renewal project: this diagram is just one of six different project maps available on their website.
For me, this diagram is a very effective way of quickly showing how the different stations along the line will be affected over the six-year span of the project. A diagram of the route with station names is shown at the top, while a year-by-year display of closed stations sits beneath. An “X” means the corresponding station is closed, while yellow station dots indicate the temporary terminus stations of the routes on either side of the break in service. Obviously, it’s just an overview, and more detailed information about the project can be found elsewhere on the website.
Source: RER A project site
A curvaceous, minimalist diagram. Notably mainly for the strangely muted colour scheme (yellow, brown and purple?) and the interesting interchange station symbols, which make things very clear by showing two arrows pointing in opposite directions. Visually, I like the way that the diagram makes use of overprinting where the route lines overlap.
Update: I’ve since found out that this map is a small inset on a much larger geographical map of bus services in Leningrad, which explains its simplicity somewhat.
Our rating: Simple but effective! There’s a pleasing organic feel to the route lines that I can’t help but like. Three stars.
Source: maps.monetos.ru map archive
Ah, yes, the old manual indicator boards that used to be at pretty much every Sydney train station. I actually walked past these very boards for much of my high school, college and early working career, as Eastwood was my local station.
Of course, these venerable boards have now finally been replaced with newer electronic signs that update automatically without the need for the stationmaster to come and flick over all the station names manually, first holding down the little foot pedal to unlock the rotating signs. (Those are actually recent additions: the stationmaster used to have to bend down and press a button on the underside of the board.)
For smaller stations which only had an up/down service pattern, these boards were pretty much ideal for quickly determining which platform the next train was leaving from and where it would stop. The trick at Eastwood was always working out whether it was worth waiting a few minutes for the express train rather than the all stations one.
Obviously, the bigger the station, the less effective these simple boards became. Strathfield’s eight platforms were pretty unwieldy, and Central’s myriad platforms and services became almost impossible to decipher for all but the most seasoned train commuters.
The photo above does have one oddity: the board on the far left shows a city-bound train leaving from Platform 3, which is normally a Hornsby-bound platform.
Still: nostalgia.
Source: dunedoo/Flickr
Here’s some nice illustrative map work, originally sent my way by Jeffrey Bridgeman, that showcases the routes of the Jefferson Lines bus company through the state of Minnesota. I’ve featured the main map that shows all of their services, and one of the six individual route maps – the evocatively named “Paul Bunyan” route.
For the record, I think these are great: fun, welcoming, informational and nice to look at. Anything that makes long-haul bus travel seem more appealing is a good thing in my book. Four stars!
Source: Jefferson Lines website – link to maps no longer active.
