One of British graphic designs greatest triumphs
A 20th century classic, they keep a copy in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and has distinguished admirers from around the world
“Almost impossible to improve, and it’s beautiful to look at” - Gert Dunbar - Professor of Graphic Design at Royal College of Art
It’s an attempt to impose sense on a huge and complex system
250 miles of track, 273 stations (as of August 2008)
Ken Garland first came to London in the 1950s and found it terribly confusing, but when he got down to the underground and saw this map he thought “somebody had me in mind”
The London Underground was originally made up by many companies operating many different lines, so despite attempts being made to document it from its conception, this was a very difficult task
Frank Pick was the first Chief Executive of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) founded in 1933, and having worked for the London Underground most of his life, decided to put his passion for modern design into revolutionising London transport, including having the logo re-designed - it becoming the heart of their identity
From 1915, Pick had employed Edward Johnson to design a new and simplified typeface, with the sans serif he produced exemplifying the virtues of modern design - it was logical, efficient and clean-lined, which is what Pick wanted to see imposed on the system
Pick tried to present the Underground system as rationally as possible in its management, one of these ways being through the architecture of the new extension underground stations on the Piccadilly and Central lines, Edward Holden was employed to do this with his approach being European Modernism, with his instructions being that the buildings must be recognisable as an underground station, of all being related to each other
In the same year these stations were opened (1933), LPTB introduced a new revolutionary underground map - uncluttered and functional - this wasn’t Pick’s idea as a new map had not been commissioned, Harry Beck was an engineering fraught AMAB working for London Transport and designed the map in his spare time while he was laid off work, all hand-drawn with immense labour, and it was turned down
After being talked into giving his idea another chance he presented it again, to which LPTB decided to print 500 copies to distribute on the Central line to a very warm welcome, and so a second edition of the map was commissioned, and then a third - it was a hit
Prior to this efficient representation in the 1930s, literal maps were created that depicted the tube lines geographically - very complex to follow
F. H. Stingemore’s was the most modern of these, having dropped the map layout of the city in the background and introduced colour-coding for the lines, dating from the mid-20s. However, this map still was depicted geographically, where Beck’s map certainly wasn’t
Beck realised the importance of only needing to know what station was next and where they connected with one another, and the lack of needing to know the distance between each and every station - which was key
Beck’s stylised rendering of the system was a breakthrough
In order to keep it to manageable proportions, the outer sections had to contract, with scale and geography being thrown to the winds, and now the whole system can be seen at a glance with clarity
Beck’s ideas for the map were thought to be inspired by Fred Pick’s modernist patronage in the underground, from architecture to posters advertising the network, with McKnight Kauffer creating posters in the style of the Cubists - Masters in the movement of not literally presenting what it portrayed. However, it is actually influenced by electrical diagrams (being a draughtsman of course) and even drew the tube map as an electrical circuit featuring puns for station names. With electrical diagrams being about where connections are made, this did seem more logical - he was a draughtsman, not a designer
“I must admit it’s very convenient and tidy, and a better map than any we’ve had so far.” - Frank Pick
LTPB paid Beck a mere 5 Guineas for his original design, but he did at least get his name engraved at the edge - H. C. BECK
The map was of course a hit with the public
The map made the outer stations, where tubes ran less due to lack of demand, seem more accessible and so LTPB began an advertising campaign to get people to use these outer tubes
After the first edition, Beck spent 26 years revolutionising his design to both perfect it, and incorporate the expansions - with it needing regular updates with new ideas being introduced and others abandoned, with only the stylised River Thames remaining as the one consistent geographical feature.
However, Beck was rather preoccupied with the problem of how to depict interchanges - circles, diamonds, and linking rings were all tried. Where stations were once represented by blobs, there were now ticks, which greatly increased clarity
Beck spent so much of his spare time puzzling over these dilemmas he became obsessed and with time-pressures he was put under for solutions by LPTB meant his wife was finding scraps of pencil drawings of the map everywhere as it consumed his time
Beck considered his 1949 version to be his masterpiece, which has a strong emphasis on vertical lines, the colour-coding is settled, and little white bars have been introduced solving the problem of linking stations and depicting interchanges
Harry Beck’s versions of the map were in use until 1960, when he was pushed aside after 26 years of dedication
Harold Hutchison, head of publicity at London Transport, thought he would like to have a shot, but his design was spikey and full of sharp angles - passengers were confused and so it was scrapped
There was then another design that went back to the roots of Beck’s maps. Paul Garbutt was London Transport’s Assistant Secretary and Works Officer, during the Christmas of 1963 he’d ran out of crossword puzzles and so thought he’d try his hand at re-designing the map
Garbutt’s dilemmas were mostly geographical ones - altering one corner meant altering another, and bringing in the Jubilee line meant a considerable re-cast of the whole map. He focused on the map containing as many continuously straight lines as possible, particularly the Northern and Central lines, making it easily comprehensible for the passenger (as well as looking nice!). This is the version that is used to date (August 2008)
The tube map has always been able to cope with rapid changes and alterations, the last change (to the above date) being the extension of the Piccadilly line to Heathrow’s Terminal Four
The influence of the London Underground map on other transportation systems around the world has been profound, with every one using a diagrammatic map adapted or influenced by the London one, with colour coding, clear interchanges and lettering being a standard practice
Despite birthing this magnificent piece of graphic design though, Beck’s name has disappeared from the tube map
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