Bored Man Redesigns Tube Map

[Si Hunt]

A man is attempting to change travel history after unveiling his own updated version of the iconic London Underground map.

British designer Mark Noad has redesigned Harry Beck’s 1931 classic version to show the routes and distances between all London stations in a more geographically accurate way.

According to Mr Noad, the map has nothing to do with Transport for London (TFL) but he has designed it in a way that still retains the clarity of the original.

Explaining some of the changes on his project website, the major alterations include changing Beck’s 45-degree angles into 30- and 60-degree ones to shorten the extremities of the lines to make it more compact.

And here it is...



It looks horrible.

So is it better to have a map that's slightly more accurate or a lot easier to read?

Or perhaps you like it?

Si.

[Perry Vale]

I'd heard about this before, I think it's more to do with saving wasted journeys on short stops when you could walk, rather than the guy simply being bored.

It actually doesn't look as bad as I feared it might.

[SiHart]

The original is a design classic, this isn't.

However, I can see it has some uses- it's often difficult to deduce how far away stations are from one another, so this could be a useful addition, as long as it doesn't replace the original one.

[Si Hunt]

I think the trouble is that people are more interested in which stations are on which line than how far apart they are. So if you include actual distances then it prevents you from being able to see at once glance all the stations in a certain radius. It seems awfully difficult to take in a view of the central line in one glance on this map.

Si.

[Awesome Wells]

No tube map is better than this.

[Alex]

Funnily enough I was only thinking about this a couple of weeks ago, and found a map online where someone had taken a google earth shot of London and added all the tube lines to it.

I really love the new version, I'm not quite sure why but it makes London seem bigger and more exciting, as it sprawls all over the place, which appeals, but I'm obviously alone on this! I do like the idea behind it too, when I first started visiting London in my fairly early teens I'd go to Oxford Street, go around the shops, and then head back to the station before catching a tube to picadilly - when I finally found out how close the two stations were (and the delights of Soho in the middle!) I felt pretty stupid.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I think this was how they originally did the London underground maps - but the circuit diagram version we've got is just brilliant. It's a case of simplifying the information so "some reality is lost", however it's so much easier to read and use.

Oddly enough we were talking about it in a test forum about "simplifying our documentation stream".

[Jason Thompson]

Personally I rather like it. It's still obviously stylised, but if it includes more accurate distance information it becomes slightly more useful. The original is a design classic, and its use of horizontal, vertical or 45 degree lines only makes it easy on the eye, but I can't see that map being any harder to use.

So if you include actual distances then it prevents you from being able to see at once glance all the stations in a certain radius.

Isn't that the point, though? All the stations in a certain radius are more precisely rendered on this map, since the 'certain radius' on the original bears little resemblance to the actual distance.

If you were making a journey on one line only I'd agree this map has little advantage over the orniginal. However, if your journey requires changing from line to line, then yes, I'd like to know which route is shorter.

[Rob McCow]

There's far too much distance between Victoria and Green Park! And it doesn't tell you about the ten minute walk between the different lines at Green Park either. Useless with a capital city!

[duncan]

As I work on London Underground this new map is pointless and very difficult to read. The current map, I admit, doesn't reflect short distances between stations but is very clear to read.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

We had an interesting discussion on the Underground map a couple of months ago, and how to some extent it sacrifices accuracy (showing distance etc) for usability. It's a fascinating concept, and one we're trying to use more at work, trying to display more information on an intuitive pictorial level, even though we know it's not quite as accurate and in-depth.

[Rob McCow]

It's a fascinating concept

What a fascinating idea... to hold in my hand a piece of paper that mapped... everything! To know that the power of unlimited travel around London was mine and mine alone.... Yes... Yes! I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods! AND THROUGH THE TUBE MAP, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!!

[Antony Cox]

(You know we were all reading it in that voice... )

[Thasc]

What a fascinating idea... to hold in my hand a piece of paper that mapped... everything! To know that the power of unlimited travel around London was mine and mine alone.... Yes... Yes! I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods! AND THROUGH THE TUBE MAP, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!!

Eeeek quick run for them there hills

[Paul Monk]

I think its horrible. Every time I see it I just tip my head to the left to view it.

[MinaHarker]

I think it's hideous. Perhaps because I have used the official one for such a long time and can find the stations I need so easily, this new one looks like a horrible distortion.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

And it doesn't tell you about the ten minute walk between the different lines at Green Park either. Useless with a capital city!

I'm with you on that one. I do the 'Green Park Corridor line' on a daily basis. It's like an on-foot version of the Waterloo & City Line only this time with Green Park (Victoria Line) on one end and Green Park (Piccadilly Line) on the other!!!

[Antony Cox]

I've done the Green Park walk many times and agree that it's a very tenuous 'interchange'!

The alternative map is clever but far too cluttered for me. The classic Beck diagram gets it all just right, apart from the geography, obviously, but then it was never intended to be a map in the true sense.

[duncan]

With all that travelling on public transport, we have to help you keep fit somehow.

[Anthony Williams]

I'm with you on that one. I do the 'Green Park Corridor line' on a daily basis. It's like an on-foot version of the Waterloo & City Line only this time with Green Park (Victoria Line) on one end and Green Park (Piccadilly Line) on the other!!!

I used to find that it was actually faster to go up to the ticket hall and back down the escalator when changing lines(!)

[Stuart Wallis]

No tube map is better than this.

2011/06/02
403 notes

While the Doctor might well be best known for fighting intergalactic aliens, much of his time is taken up with the day to day protection of the Central Line from extraterrestrial interference. It has come to light however that when trains pass too close to the Tardis there is a chance they may not end up at Woodfood (via Hainault).

Dammit - they're onto me at last!

This map reminds me of the way it looked around WWII - it was a little more true to life due to there being less lines.

[Anthony Williams]

This map reminds me of the way it looked around WWII - it was a little more true to life due to there being less lines.

For the sake of comparison, here's the tube map c. 1945:

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Having looked at the two side-by-side, I'd say you'd have to be a Londoner and familiar with the original map to think that this one is any harder to read. Yes, it's not quite as "pretty", but it's just as clear, it's just that you've already got the original burned into your brain so find it easier to navigate around it.

[Ralph]

Well I for one think it's a fabulous map and I think it should be put in every underground station and train with immediate effect!