Words cannot express just how much I love this beautiful, beautiful map by Maxwell Roberts, whose work I’ve featured on the blog many times previously. I had the privilege of seeing this map “in the flesh” at the New York Transit Museum event I attended earlier this month, and it looks even more impressive as an actual print.

The map is inspired by the work of the famous architect and designer, Frank Lloyd Wright – most obviously by his stained glass work – and it’s a wonderful homage to his style, especially regarding the typographical and colour choices. And it actually works really nicely as a map as well! I note with pleasure that repeated station names – Cicero, Pulaski, Harlem, etc. – are placed properly relative to the city’s grid, which is a very nice touch indeed. The Loop inset is nicely handled, although you could perhaps argue that the station name labels for the Loop stations on the main map are therefore redundant and could perhaps be omitted for clarity.

Personally, I find some of Max’s transit maps to be very technical explorations of design and usability theory – fascinating, well-drawn and very worthy, but sometimes a little dry in character. This however, is art, and I think it’s simply gorgeous. 5 stars!

Prints of this map – and many others – are available on Max’s website from £30 for UK orders, and £36 (about $55) for international orders. Consider this added to the 2015 gift guide! 

Source: Tube Map Central (Maxwell Roberts’ website)