During Rob's seminar on Friday we began to talk through some stuff about the visual appendix. He gave us a rough outline on which to base our proposal which will help Rob mark it at a formative stage. For this he asked to fill out a couple of different areas to help get an idea of what we were planning to do with the appendix.
1.ABSTRACT
How did Harry Beck’s 1933 Tube map influence map making diagrams,
as well as wider culture?
In the first 70 years of the London Underground, there was over a 150 different companies providing public transport for the citizens of London (across above and underground railways and bus networks) [Albus, Kras & Woodham, 2004]. In 1931, a company, which would eventually become the modern-day Transport for London (TfL), began to resolve this stifling and wasteful competition, by uniting these competitors, and giving them a new visual identity. Using design to resolve the problem and give the best perception to the public. One of the electricians brought in to help with the implementation of this new branding across all of London’s stations, drew up an idea that would revolutionise not only how Londoners viewed travel, but later, how the world would view London. His design not only is it still in use today all over the world, but it has gone beyond travel into iconic status.
During the course of this essay, the points covered will include the structure and layout of previous attempts at mapping London’s underground network, how and why Beck’s design was so revolutionary, how the design is relatively unchanged up to the modern day incarnate, as well as attempting to chart the influence his design has had across the globe, and beyond the transport industry.
2. VISUAL APPENDIX - AIMS & OBJECTIVES (the what and the why)
- Apply Beck’s principles to other map, charts, or diagrams
- Consider applying Patterson’s (The Great Bear) philosophy
- Explore why it this style isn’t universally applied
3. VISUAL APPENDIX - METHODOLOGY (the how)
Using illustrator, create vector artwork apply Beck’s principles to other mapping outcomes that rely on a more representational relationship with physical geography.
Create a ‘Map of me’ using a similar philosophy to Patterson to see how Beck’s principles can be applied to non-geographical systems.
4. VISUAL RESEARCH QUESTION
- How can Beck's style be applied to other map-based diagrams, as well as other concepts other than travel or geography?
5. KEY WORDS
Conceptual, diagram, map-making
