Personally, I believe that the map – in its current format – is ill-equipped to handle future additions, especially with the just-announced decision to gradually transfer all Greater London commuter rail services to TfL’s control under the Overground brand.Ī number of designers have proposed alternative London rail maps that deal with this problem – like this lovely diagram by the very talented Jug Cerovic – but I started to wonder: what if the Tube Map was just drawn better? Beck’s ingenious design has been asked to convey more and more information with each passing year: more Underground lines than he probably ever envisioned, the addition of the Overground and DLR, fare zone shading (an early version of which he absolutely loathed), accessibility icons and more. The Underground network has grown in both size and complexity in the decades since the Tube Map’s debut, and H.C. The large preview of the map is heavily watermarked to make this situation clear to all viewers. It is not available for sale or for licensing. This redrawing has been executed as an educational and instructive design exercise only – a design and technical critique of the current map that also offers some ideas for future improvement. Note: the design of the Tube Map is the intellectual property of Transport for London.

But how much of that reputation is actually deserved these days?

London’s Underground Diagram (or “Tube Map”) has long been regarded as an icon of informational design, pioneering the way for just about every other schematic transportation map in the world since its inception way back in 1931. See also: More design notes on the map, and a newer version showing out-of-station interchanges.

The tube map london