All posts tagged: diagram

Submission – Historical Map: The Routes of Imperial Airways and of Associated Companies, 1936

September 15, 2015
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Submitted by Mattias Lq, who says: I know how you don’t like many airway maps trying to be schematic, but this one is a rather successful combination of a simplified geographical map and a schematic inset showing frequencies throughout the year. Although it has some minor beauty flaws here and there, it is really a beautiful map, especially considering the five colours used to print the map! What do you say? Transit Maps says: Mattias, […]

Historical Diagram: Piccadilly Circus Tube Station by Renzo Picasso, 1929

July 24, 2015
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We all know that I love a good cutaway diagram, and this example – drawn by Italian architect and urban designer, Renzo Picasso (no relation) – is just superb. Drawn in 1929, coinciding with the opening of Charles Holden’s sub-surface circular booking hall which replaced the original 1906 above-ground Leslie Green-designed station building. The unusual perspective, halfway between the platform level and the (invisible) roads above, permits a wonderful level of clarity in the drawing.  […]

Systems of the Human Body in Schematic/Transit Map Form

May 11, 2015
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Mash-Up Maps, Visualizations
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Depicting the complex networks of the human body in schematic form makes a lot of sense, and designers have been doing it for a while – as the first diagram above shows. Originally created by German medical illustrator Eduard Weber c. 1960, it’s one of a series of six schematic diagrams that depict the neurovascular systems of the human body. These diagrams are widely regarded as a iconic piece of medical design, and even newer […]

Work in Progress: Time-scaled Hong Kong MTR Diagram by Ryan Carpenter

May 8, 2015
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Submitted by Ryan, who says: I’ve been working on a variation of a time-scaled transit map (more of a diagram, given there’s no geographic context).  I’m not quite sure how to handle the transfer stations.  I’d like to make it clear how long passengers will spend in the stations (walking, waiting) vs. how long they will be on the trains.  I’d be interested in what you think. Transit Maps says: I really like the concept […]

Project: 1939 Map of Sydney Railways, Digital Recreation

March 9, 2015
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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. As scans of this map on the Internet had quality issues, I decided to redraw it in Adobe Illustrator from scratch.

Future Map: Diagram of Construction-related Closures on the Paris RER A Line, 2015–2021

March 5, 2015
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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 […]

Historical Diagram: Charing Cross/Embankment Tube Station Cutaway, 1914

December 11, 2013
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Simply stunning cutaway cross-section of the London Tube station now known as Embankment in 1914. This drawing shows the station just after the opening of the new deep tube extension of the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (now part of the Northern Line) from their previous terminus to the north at Charing Cross station. The extension was a single line that headed south from Charing Cross, looped back around underneath the Thames and had a […]

Historical Map: Bank-Monument Tube Stations Cutaway (1990s?)

July 17, 2013
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Not a traditional transit map per se, but a stunningly beautiful technical illustration of the interlinking tubes and tunnels that form the connected Bank-Monument tube station complex in London. Built as separate stations, but linked by escalators in the 1930s (the depiction of which proved a permanent puzzle for H.C. Beck on his Tube Map), the complex is the ninth-busiest London Underground station, What I love here is that we’re looking at over 100 years […]

Historical Map: 1974 New York MTA Commuter Rail Map

March 11, 2013
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Submitted by dpecs, who says: Vignelli-inspired map (designer unknown) of the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Roads. On display until March 15th at the New York Transit Museum’s exhibit Grand By Design, on the centennial of Grand Central Terminal. Transit Maps says: Designer unknown? The amazing book “Helvetica and the New York City Subway” attributes this map to one Joan Charysyn, saying she designed it freelance in between stints at Vignelli Associates and Unimark. It’s […]

Unofficial Map: San Francisco BART Reductio ad Absurdum

September 12, 2012
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I was reminded today of this work — one of my favourite transit map design exercises of all time from the always interesting Burrito Justice website. A ridiculously minimalist “hyperlinear” version of the BART map, it actually holds up surprisingly well as a navigational tool. Of course, something like this only works for a relatively simple system like BART. Source: comments thread of this post on the Burrito Justice site