30 Search Results for: tutorial

Tutorial: Adobe Illustrator’s ‘Round Corners’ Effect and Transit Maps

January 28, 2012
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In my earlier post about drawing a transit map, I made mention of the fact that Adobe Illustrator’s “Round Corners” effect doesn’t work very well with multiple curves around a corner, such as parallel route lines changing direction together on a transit map. This part of my post elicited a very interesting comment from Chris Helenius in Finland that there are ways to get matching curves around a corner when using the Round Corners effect. […]

Tutorial: How To Design a Transit Diagram

August 30, 2011
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One thing I often get asked regarding my transit diagrams is how I go about actually creating them. Originally, I just jumped right in and pushed things around on a page in Illustrator until it looked okay. These days, I’m far more organised, meticulous and precise with my work and I think it shows in the quality of my diagrams. Here’s a few tips and tricks that I live by when working on them: Plan […]

FAQ

January 3, 2019
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Here’s some answers to questions that I get a lot: Q. The maps that you create look great! Can I buy posters of them? Sure! Visit my secure on-line store – there are lots of my own maps to buy, as well as a great selection of vintage transit and transportation maps and photographs! I print and ship all orders myself, and I put the same love and care into that as I do with the artwork. […]

Submission – Fantasy Map: Greater Brisbane Rail Map by Hayden Green

October 27, 2016
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<Image currently missing> Submitted by Hayden, who says: This is a fantasy map of what one day could be the urban rail network in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I’ve been working on this for the last few months, and many of your posts (especially tutorials) have been extremely helpful – I would love to hear your thoughts on the final product. Thanks 🙂 Transit Maps says: Now this I like!  A fantasy map that’s not afraid […]

Submission – River Rail Streetcar, Little Rock, Arkansas by Peter Dovak

June 28, 2015
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Submitted by Peter, who says: Ages ago, after you posted a tutorial on highway interchanges on your McKinney Ave streetcar map, I was inspired to try and practice the technique on what ended up being a very very similar project–definitely too similar to take any credit for. I left it incomplete for so long because it was just uncomfortably reminiscent of your map to finish, but for the sake of completion and appreciation for the […]

Reader Question: Are there any resources available for exporting city map data to vector format for importing into Illustrator?

June 14, 2015
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Question: Are there any resources available for exporting city map data (similar to Google Maps, etc) to vector format for importing into Illustrator? Do you utilize any pre-existing data for your projects, or do you simple start from scratch? I’m thinking of your Dallas streetcar map in particular. Answer: To be honest, most of the time, I just start from scratch. My very low-tech workflow is to quickly grab some screenshots from Google Maps or similar […]

Unofficial Map: Sydney Rail Network (Trains and Light Rail) by Ben Luke

September 1, 2014
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Submitted by Ben, who says: This is my version of the Sydney Trains map. I was inspired to try designing my own version after the introduction of the new official map which I found to be rather uninspiring. I have been learning Illustrator in the process, so thanks to your excellent blog for all the tips and tutorials. I have used a realistic background layer which is distorted to fit around the map but maintains […]

Breaking News! Illustrator CC’s “Live Corners” Are AMAZING!

January 17, 2014
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Yesterday, Adobe released updates to many of their Creative Cloud applications, including Illustrator (which is now at version 17.1, if you can believe it!).For me, the absolute standout feature is “Live Corners”, which is a game changer for the design and production of transit maps. Gone are the inconsistent and unpredictable results produced by the “Round Corners” effect, and my trusty but time-consuming workaround – using a set of master curves and manually cutting-and-pasting them into […]

Official Map: “BUZ” Frequent Service Bus Network, Brisbane, Australia

November 6, 2013
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“BUZ” apparently stands for “Bus Upgrade Zone”, a somewhat convoluted way to refer to frequent service routes – every 10 minutes in peak periods and every 15 minutes at other times. That Brisbane has 20 such frequent service routes is actually pretty impressive, but the map itself is not. What a horrible, twisted, messy, scraggly attempt at a network map this is. Completely diagrammatic in some parts, and overly precise in others: what is with […]

Official Map: Metro de Santiago, Chile, 2012

March 6, 2012
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Here’s another example of a metro map overlaid on a city’s street grid – this time from Santiago, Chile. This system has some marvellous innovations, with a bike sharing program (BiciMetro) and libraries (BiblioMetro) integrated at many stations, but the map somewhat fails to live up to those modern, forward-thinking ideas. Have we been there? No. What we like: Clean layout, with large easy-to-read (if not particularly stylish) text. The roads are given the right […]