In May 2022 the new Elizabeth Line was opened and added to the latest version of the iconic Tube Map published by Transport for London. But is the map still fit for purpose? Here, I’ll show the results of a detailed cartographic editing process that assesses its form and function. I’ll also share major redesigns of my 2019 tube map that deals with many of the issues identified as well as taking on board wider comments and critique. In thinking about why cartographers and designers offer alternative, often unrequested, redesigns of such classic maps, we’ll consider the crucial question of whether holding on to an iconic brand, with all its flaws, is preferable to letting go of the past and designing a completely new map. Remember, Beck’s design was not immediately popular in 1933. Maybe it’s time to mind the map and look for a new Beck.
Bio: Ken is a permanently recovering academic from the UK with a Bachelors in cartography and PhD in GIS. He grew tired of admin, and ditched his 20-year academic career, moved to the US, and talks and writes about cartography, teaches and makes maps at Esri in California. He has presented and published an awful lot. He blogs, tweets too much, after eight years as Chair is now Vice-Chair of the ICA Map Design Commission, and did a nine-year stint as Editor of The Cartographic Journal. He’s won a few awards for maps, teaching cartography, kitchen tile designs and his books Cartography and Thematic Mapping. He teaches a MOOC on cartography which has so far had over 150,000 participants. He is co-founder of longitude.space and mappery.org.
He snowboards (reasonably), plays drums (badly) and is a long-suffering supporter of his hometown football team Nottingham Forest. Maps are his passion and profession.
15 сен 2024
