Tube map designer Harry Beck has had his iconic design
officially commemorated yesterday on the 80th anniversary of its first public
appearance. An English Heritage Blue Plaque was unveiled at Beck's birthplace
in Wesley Road, Leyton, East London. His design used an easy-to-follow grid
system on which all subsequent maps on the expanding network have been based. The
blue plaque commemorating his birthplace is somewhat different as it was designed
using famous London Underground New Johnston font. The original font was
designed by Edward Johnston and introduced on the Underground in 1916 to make
its signs and notices clearer. It was the first “machine font” which unlike
newspaper fonts was “san serif” without tails or decorations. It influenced all
subsequent typefaces. Johnston's former student Eric Gill also worked on the development
of the typeface, which was later to influence his own Gill Sans typeface,
produced 1928–32.
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| Harry Beck and his map |
It is acknowledged that imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery so by any standards the world’s most flattered mapmaker must be Harry
Beck who devised the famous diagrammatic London Underground Tube Map. By the
early 1930s, the London Underground network had expanded so considerably that
it was difficult to squeeze all the new lines and stations into a geographical
map. Passengers complained that the existing map was crowded, confusing and
hard to read. It was decided that the network was too big to be represented
geographically and the Underground commissioned one of its draughtsmen Harry
Beck (1903-1974) to devise a more efficient method.
Basing his map on an electrical circuit, Beck represented
each line in a different colour and interchange stations as diamonds. The
crowded central area was enlarged and the course of each route simplified into
the form of a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line. The diagrammatic map was
produced on a trial basis as a leaflet in 1933 and Beck continued to refine it
until 1959. For the full story see;
Mr Beck worked with London Transport as an engineering
draughtsman before he designed the map. He continued to update the map as new
stations and lines came into service and even after he left the employment of
London Transport he still worked on the diagram. His last version of the map
was published in 1960, after which a dispute over its re-modelling by other
designers led to a rift with his former employers. Despite this, he continued
to work on updated designs on his own, featuring the new Victoria Line as a
neat lilac diagonal line. But these, or his prototype for the Paris Metro map,
were never used.
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| Harry Beck's 1933 Map |
Harry Beck was notably ahead of the game in producing a version
of his London map showing all underground and surface level train services as
early as 1938. At the time, this was deemed too complex for publication, but
today such an integrated map appears at all London stations. Beck, who had
started work with London Transport as an engineering draughtsman, was supposed
to have been paid just five guineas (£5.25) for the original design. He died,
aged 72, in 1974.
The influence of his design was emphasised at a recent lecture I attended at the RICS by Mark Ovenden who has produced no less than eight books on Metro and Railway maps all of which in various ways pay homage to Harry Beck’s schematic design and to the clarity of Edward Johnston’s typefaces. Mark is a broadcaster and author who specialises in the subjects of graphic design, cartography and architecture in public transport, with an emphasis on underground rapid transit. His interest in transport maps stems from his belief that they echo the prevailing social and political trends of the societies they emanate from. His Urban World Metro Map is a "playful diagram" showing "all the cities which have, are building or are planning to construct an urban rail system."
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| An Underground map before Harry Beck's diagram |
At the unveiling the Director of London’s Transport Museum Sam
Mullins said: “Beck’s map was revolutionary in its simplicity. It has become a
London icon and influenced the design of many Metro maps across the globe, as
well as being the inspiration for many contemporary artists and designers. His
work forms part of the overall design ethic of Transport for London and its
predecessor organisations, and his original artwork for the London map and the
Paris Metro are both on display in London Transport Museum’s Design for Travel
gallery.”
London Transport has contributed a great deal to modern
British Design largely through the influence of its General Manager Frank Pick
who commissioned Edward Johnston’s typeface and worked with the greatly underrated
architect Charles Holden on revolutionising station design and on the
Underground’s iconic Headquarters’, 55 Broadway built in the airspace above St.
James’s Park Tube Station . The obsession with clear design and image was
continued through to Harry Beck’s famous schematic map, commissioning its own
“machine typeface” to make its posters, signage and publications clearer,
building instantly recognisable branded station buildings and station fittings
and using engaging and innovative advertising in the 30’s.
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| Edward Johnston's Typeface |
Today London
Underground’s trademark roundel is the second most recognised brand worldwide.
The Directors in the 20s and 30s saw good design as good for business. By the
example it set under Frank Pick the Underground was gradually able to change
the public’s attitude to railway stations which had been seen as shabby and
inhospitable places. Sir Nicholas Pevsner wrote that Pick saw in every detail a
“visual propaganda” and he used this not only to improve the Underground but
the environment as a whole.
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| Charles Holden's masterpiece, the Underground's Headquarters at 55, Broadway |
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Charles Holden brought the Underground station to the
forefront of modern architecture: This achievement is unequaled by any other
transport company before or since. Indeed
in New York last week I was struck when visiting the Empire State and Chrysler
Buildings with the common Art Deco palette they share with 55, Broadway and indeed
all three buildings were equipped with the American Cutler mail handling
system.
See about Charles Holden’s influence and his design for the
Underground’s iconic headquarters here;
London Underground celebrated its 150th Birthday
this year – for the story of London’s Underground Railway see;
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| Holden's Arnos Grove Station on the Piccadilly Extension illustrating the integrated design approach pioneered by the Underground |
Well, I find it hard to read a map and I don't want to think what it would be like for me without Mr beck's map!
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