The Evolution of the London Underground Map; Above left to right
- 1908, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1927, 1933, 1937 and the present day.
(Old maps are from here) Before the development of the iconic
diagram style map in 1931 the tube map was constantly changing,
never sticking to a consistent style. Some maps showed what was
going on overground too and most of them attempt to be
geographically correct, showing the curves and turns of the
lines. By 1927 the map has become much clearer and easier to
follow. The problem was that the train lines were getting longer
and this made it impossible to fit everything into one map.
Keeping it geographically accurate would have meant that the
centre became smaller and harder to read, and the centre is the
most densely packed and most important part. In comes Harry Beck
in 1931, inspired by electronic circuit diagrams he had the idea
of scrapping geographical accuracy and making all lines straight
with only 45 and 90 degree angles. Design history was made and
the map has barely ch