by Max Roberts

Welcome to my web pages of miscellany about the London Underground map. I'm interested in the history of the map, and the design and use of transport maps and wayfinding information in general. By training I am a psychologist, specialising in how people make decisions on the basis of information available. In many ways, a transport map can be seen as a logic puzzle: given information about the routes, how do people plan the best possible journey? Most importantly, in what ways does the design of a map make life easy or difficult for people? The London Underground map is often cited as an example of outstanding design, but in many ways I think there is considerable room for improvement.

NOTE: I am not affiliated with Transport for London nor any of its subsidiary companies. If you require information on travel in London, or the latest versions of official maps, you should click here. Many of the images included on these pages are copyright Transport for London (official Underground maps reproduced here for illustrative educational purposes) or myself (experimental designs and original maps designed to demonstrate usability points).

These webpages are updated reasonably frequently, bookmark and check every couple of months for new additions.

Underground Maps After Beck More details on my book about London Underground Maps since 1960. It covers the history, politics, and psychology of map design. Over 2000 copies sold, now reprinted and updated to include London Overground.

Map Posters Coming soon in time for Christmas. Two large format posters for sale at the London Transport Museum.
London Underground map myths Don't believe everything you read on the web/in the papers/see on TV! Henry Beck was a clever designer, and the Underground map has been a neat piece of design, but do they really deserve cult status? Twelve myths are discussed.
Collectors' pages Interested in collecting London Underground maps? I have some suggestions to help you, a list of key stages in map development since the Second World War along with images, a list of electronic maps in the public domain, a list of rarities, and for people with duplicates, a list of gaps in my collection.
Links and bibliography There are plenty of other interesting books to read and pages to visit.
Information pollution We are bombarded with information from all directions, and the do-gooders out there want to give us more and more. The London Underground map has succumbed to this trend, but it's not just the high quantity of information that is cause for concern, but also its poor quality.

Coming Soon(ish)

Breaking the rules My research into the psychology of interpreting maps has led me to question whether Henry Beck's design rules really are the best for all possible transport maps. There are two issues at work here: matching the right rules to a network, and the quality of implementation within a set of rules. Until this goes up, you can see discussions of some of the challenging designs that I have created at the following places:
Curvy Tube Map I on Annie Mole's London Underground Blogspot (audience reaction here and here)
iPM on Radio 4
Curvy Tube Map II on Annie Mole's London Underground Blogspot (audience reaction here and here)
Londonist
Podtours
The London Traveller
Decline of an icon Adding London Overground has led to a lot of debate. Should the lines have been added? Have they been added well? In fact, I've argued that decline in design standards began in the 1990s, and that recent developments are accentuating problems that have been brewing for quite some time? Until this goes up, I am not the only person with these views. Take a look at the following:
Diamond Geezer's Blog I (audience reaction here)
Diamond Geezer's Blog II (audience reaction here)
Alex Gollner's comments and redesign
Annie Mole's London Underground Blogspot I (audience reaction here)
Annie Mole's London Underground Blogspot II (audience reaction here)

Contact

If you wish to contact me about maps in general, use the following email address: max@tubemapcentral.com.

I am particularly keen to hear about unofficial London Underground maps, both from Britain and from around the world. I already have over 100 in my collection, mainly from Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and USA, and mainly from the last 5 years. Complete maps are the most interesting, and any unofficial maps from before 1995. If you have any old maps or guides to London lying around, do take a look.

Presentations

I am available to give a lively, entertaining, and factually accurate presentation on the history, design, politics, and psychology of the official London Underground map (and the many unofficial ones), and I can slant this towards specific interests if desired. For non-profit making bodies, I am happy to do this if you can cover my expenses. For more details, email me at presentations@tubemapcentral.com

Here are some reviews of other presentations I have given:

Central St Martins College of Art and Design, review by Annie Mole Part I (more audience reaction here)
Central St Martins College of Art and Design, review by Annie Mole Part II (more audience reaction here)
London Underground Railway Society, review by Annie Mole (more audience reaction here)
London Underground Railway Society, review from Underground News magazine.

Recent Additions

25/11/08: Posters for sale have been added along with a link. 28/04/08: Article on information pollution is now live, Underground Maps After Beck has been reprinted, and two more electronic Underground maps added to the list.

28/02/08: Some new links added discussing my new Underground map designs.

09 to 11/01/08: Various extras added here and there: electronic maps, links and books, more myths.

18/12/07: Illustations added to show the key stages in map design.

30/11/07: New myth added: Beck's Paris Metro map.

Last updated 28/11/08. All content on these web pages are © Maxwell J. Roberts, 2005-8. No reproduction without permission.