All posts tagged: Adobe Illustrator

Tutorial: Adobe Illustrator 2023’s New “Intertwine” Feature

November 27, 2022
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In which I finally make a video tutorial because the amount of screenshots needed to explain this would have been ridiculous. Let me know what you think; there may be more video tutorial content in the future! Pros: Does what it says it will, fairly intuitive to work with. Cons: Messes with your layer structure, any normal layout edits after applying Intertwine are trickier. Overall: Tough to see how it provides a benefit over the […]

Project: Interstate Highways as a Subway Diagram, 2020 Revision

November 21, 2020
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My Transit Maps, Prints Available
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Ever since I first created it in 2009, my Interstates as Subway Map diagram has been one of my most popular and enduring designs. It’s consistently the best selling print in the Transit Maps store, and is something I’m incredibly proud of. However, the last major redesign of it was way back in 2011, and it’s definitely starting to show its age. At the time, I really didn’t think I’d still be maintaining and updating […]

Project: My Boston Rapid Transit Diagram Update, 2018

October 14, 2018
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My Transit Maps, Prints Available, Unofficial Maps
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Ever since I first designed it way back in 2012, I’ve tried to keep my popular alternative Boston MBTA rapid transit map updated as new stations opened and other changes to the network happened. However, with the opening of the Silver Line route to Chelsea (SL3) earlier this year, certain parts of my design just weren’t going to cut it anymore. Looking at the old version, it was also painfully obvious to me that I […]

Project: 1954 Manhattan Rapid Transit Flow Diagram Digital Recreation

January 17, 2017
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Historical Maps, My Transit Maps, Prints Available, Visualizations
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I’ve long admired this beautiful 1954 flow diagram of subway service into Manhattan during the morning peak hour, so I set myself the personal challenge of recreating it using modern design tools (Adobe Illustrator) while still staying true to the original principles of the map. While it was certainly possible to just trace the source material in Illustrator with the pen tool and end up with a decent facsimile of the original, there’s really nothing to […]

Project: Amtrak as Subway Map (revised)

September 14, 2016
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My Transit Maps, Prints Available
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One of my longest-running projects is a subway diagram-styled map of Amtrak’s passenger rail network, with the original version dating back to 2010. I always made sure to update it regularly over the years, adding and deleting stations to keep it current. In April last year, I attempted to update the design of the map as well, although I ended up trying a few too many overly-clever things with it – overlaying lines on top of […]

Quick Project: Montréal Métro Redesign

May 2, 2016
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My Transit Maps, Unofficial Maps
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Readers of my Transit Maps blog would know that I was extremely disappointed with the recent Montréal Métro map redesign (see the review here), which took a truly unique, iconic design and replaced it with a very ordinary octolinear imitation of itself. So I've taken it upon myself to redraw the map as I think it should look: restoring some elements of the previous maps, simplifying and clarifying the network, and adding some new touches all of my own.

Reader Question: Preparing Print-Ready Raster Files from Adobe Illustrator

April 7, 2016
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Questions, Tutorials
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Question: Hi Cameron, I’m wrapping up a transit map project that I’ll likely print professionally. I was all set to send the printer a PDF until I happened to catch one of your tweets that mentioned using a high-resolution JPEG instead. I’m wondering if you could share your recommended practices for exporting from Illustrator to print-ready JPEG in terms of resolution, color profiles, and the like. The last thing any of us wants is to […]

Project: New York Subway Map in the Style of the London Tube Diagram

March 22, 2016
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Mash-Up Maps, My Transit Maps, Unofficial Maps
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A little while ago, someone asked me on my "Transit Maps" blog whether I had ever seen a map of the New York subway system in the style of the London Underground diagram. Rather surprisingly, I hadn't actually come across one, so - surprise! - I decided to draw one up myself.

Quick Project: Accessibility on the London Underground

February 4, 2016
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Official Maps, Visualizations
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Other maps have shown the extent of accessible services on the Underground before, but the newest one I know of is from 2011, which is before the distinction between "street-to-platform" and "street-to-train" was made on the map. Here's my version of those two maps, with before and after comparisons with the whole map.