A small project in developing a more user friendly map system for the Mountain Bike Park out at Makara has got me thinking about the London Underground Map, designed in 1933 by Harry Beck.
The simplified map is a deservedly enduring design classic, and has popped up in a few places - there's a framed version charting the history of popular music hanging in the Wellington Library, and Simon Patterson's Great Bear twists it into a smart comment on the evolution of contemporary knowledge.
Japanese interfact and strategy (love that term) thinktank Information Architects have a cool version based on the Tokyo subway that links the 200 biggest websites according to content classifications. Version 3 - due shortly - takes things to a whole new level, with layers based on the new map developed for the Swiss Train network.
The subject of these flash new layers? Brand Experience and Momentum - two concepts at the very heart of mountain biking.
Pic: sneak preview of Information Architect's Web trend Map v3.0.
1 comment:
The map of the London Underground is an icon. It’s something that many people all around the world can identify with. In Maps: Finding Our Place in the World at The Walters Art Gallery, we can see Harry Beck’s original London Underground map on display. It’s excellence in design. Beneath the surface of the London streets is a chaotic maze of tunnels. Beck put order and logic to something and created a indelible piece with as much function as it has form.
Go to www.baltimore.org/maps/maps.php for more info and to see videos of the curator talking about the exhibition.
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