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Subway Map Revolution
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 25, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 25, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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This has been floating around for a while, but we're only getting around to posting about it now: Eddie Jabbour, a designer from Kick Design, has proposed a new kind of subway map (above left) to the MTA that would delineate subway lines more clearly and not bother subway riders with information about the MTA's other lines (like Metro-North) which make the current map (above right) cumbersome. An old Newsday article notes two of the MTA's criticisms:
First, the color-coded neighborhoods on Jabbour's map make it difficult to read in the low light of the subway. Secondly, his use of multiple, same-color lines eliminates any sense of the avenue of operation for those lines. Geographical perspective is lost.
Peter Joseph, a designer of the MTA map, also added "There is no such thing as a perfect map for a system as complicated as the NYC subway. While the Kick map does have some interesting features, it is not a design magic bullet to the problems of providing clear information to the riders of the subway." In its favor, though, the Kick map does show what the different subway lines do. Gothamist admires Jabbour's effort, but does find the different lines sprawling around the city unwieldy. We think the ideal map is somewhere out there in the future, when portable maps are 3-D and/or interactive. What do you think?
The great designer, Massimo Vignelli, who designed the iconic subway graphic system (link to Cooper-Hewitt's 4MB zip file of Vignelli's program) , designed the 1972 map that distorted the city. Check out this great FAQ of NYC subway maps from NYC Subway. Here's another discussion from the third rail about Jabbour's map design. We did a post about a 3-D map, the Dynamap earlier this year.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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