Three chapters of the part Principle of Ilya Birman’s Designing Transit Maps are out. The chapters are ‘Geometry’, ‘Orientation’, and ‘Scope’.
The book speaks of transit map history, important principles of their design, and how they evolve together with their networks. The author talks about techniques: plotting the lines, denoting the stops, choosing the fonts, and composing the final poster.
Not many designers have an occasion to design a subway map. But the principles and techniques discussed are applicable to any tasks of complex information display: org charts, family trees, control‑flow diagrams, fire escape plans, project timelines, military battle schemes, architectural drawings. The book sharpens the reader’s eye and inculcates attention to detail.
Geometry
Geographical maps show routes as they actually run through the city. To make the information easier to perceive, designers create geometrical maps, where line shapes and plotting rules are streamlined. Because of their orderliness, such maps look more attractive, and the public transit itself looks more accessible. In this chapter, read about choosing the angle grid for a geometrical map, where to draw the line on acceptable distortions, how to combine geometricity and geographicity, and about cases when geometrical map is not a good idea.
Orientation
Traditionally, maps are drawn with north facing upward. In the case of transit maps, especially geometrical ones, the notion of orientation is somewhat fuzzy. Additionally, the sea or mountains are sometimes more meaningful landmarks in a city than north and south. In this chapter, the author shows that a map can be sometimes rotated to be easier to read and memorize, to fit better into a poster, and this will not confuse passengers.
Scope
Some transit systems are too complex to be shown on a single map. A good way to keep things simple is to show less stuff. In this chapter, you will learn how to reduce the scope of a map depending on the timetable, route specifics, mode of transportation, organizational structure, or even by showing only a part of the city.
Sample chapter
The chapter ‘Bends’ is available for free. In the chapter Ilya Birman shows good and bad ways to bend the lines, introduces the bend visibility principle, talks about harmonizing the bends in line bundles.
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