The NY Times got an advance look at the MTA's latest overhaul of the NYC subway map, which was last refreshed in 1998. The Times, which says the new version is "resized, recolored and simplified," reports, "Manhattan will become taller, bulkier and 30 percent wider, to better display its spaghetti of subway lines. Staten Island, meanwhile, will shrink by half. The spreadsheetlike 'service guide,' along the map’s bottom border, will be eliminated, and the other three boroughs will grow to fill the space." more ›

Design geeks and subway enthusiasts, time to swoon: Massimo Vignelli, whose beloved and controversial 1972 subway map is in Museum of Modern Art, has updated his map for 2008 for Men's Vogue. Men's Vogue revisited the 1972 map's path:

The plan was as visually utopian as it was elegant — paths running on 45- and 90-degree angles, an understated gray square marking Central Park, and type set in clear Helvetica. It was hailed as an instant classic of graphic design. But it left many feeling stranded. "People expected a map instead of a diagram," Vignelli, 77, says. "But diagrammatic representation is common practice around the world since the London Underground map of the thirties."

In a constantly changing city, it's impressive to realize that New Yorkers have had essentially the same subway map for almost 30 years. The current map varies only in detail from the one that Michael Hertz and the MTA presented to the public in 1979. Its predecessor map's design is primarily credited to Massimo Vignelli, and it was criticized as being too abstract. Hertz was hired by the MTA to create a new map that incorporated a more realistic look, as well as more information about the city itself and its transportation system. more ›

“He’s a good designer and it’s an interesting map,” Mr. Boylan said. “The design is important, but the thing we’re concerned with is the best directional guidance. We design a map for use, not solely to look good, and we think it looks good.”Reading the profile of him in The New York Times, it's easy to see that Eddie Jabbour is not a man easily deterred. The graphic designer for Kick Design continues to work on his map nights and weekends, asking his 17-year-old daughter, Ellie, for feedback every weekend when he prints out another revised variation of his design. more ›

The great designer, Massimo Vignelli, who designed the iconic subway graphic system (link to Cooper-Hewitt's 4MB zip file of Vignelli's program) , designed the 1972 map that distorted the city. Check out this great FAQ of NYC subway maps from NYC Subway. Here's another discussion from the third rail about Jabbour's map design. We did a post about a 3-D map, the Dynamap earlier this year.
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