The modernist designer Massimo Vignelli, who created the 1972 version of the New York City Subway map, passed away this week at 83.
To honor Vignelli's passing, Will Doig presents seven creative and lesser-known versions of the New York City Subway system that fans of transit, maps, and New York City (but not necessarily in that order) will enjoy. A sample of the subway system, as presented in these unique representations:
- "When the current New York subway map was introduced in 1979, designer Nobu Siraisi quickly recognized what a mess it was around the Atlantic Avenue station in Brooklyn. So Siraisi redrew that section of the map by hand, in a sketch that never made it off the drawing board, but is somehow gorgeous in its simplicity."
- "For 'I Love NY' in map form, Seoul-based designers Zero Per Zero embeded [sic] New York’s transit system into a heart shape, rendering it cuddlier than it probably has a right to be."
- The article also includes a video of "the New York subway map as string instrument, using the actual train schedule to create the symphony."
FULL STORY: 7 Alternate Versions of the New York City Subway Map
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