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The Tube Map nearly looked very different

Map Men0 HN recommenders · 2022–2025
2.6M views · explainer · evergreen · Uploaded 2022-09-26

Map Men's Jay Foreman tells the story of how the London Tube map nearly looked very different, including Harry Beck's design and TfL's initial rejection of it. A short, witty history of a design icon.

Linked in threads on the Tube map and transit map design history.

Data visualization & information designTransit, cities & urban planningGraphic design & typography

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5 comments from Hacker News

@supernova87a2022 · in “Electric ferry uses a long extension cord [video]”

You know, I've been interested to observe why some YouTubers succeed hugely and others just stay specialty channels. For example, Tom Scott assembles stories that you possibly could find elsewhere, but what is it that makes his videos special to have gotten so many views in the 10s of millions? Is it that his videos are relatively short and digestible in 5 min, and have some off-the-beaten path / uncommon / eye catchy subjects? Does he just make the right combination of detail and high level takeaway? Is it that he actually goes to the places to get live footage (versus those Youtube regurgitaters who explain a topic never having left their desk, with 200 ADD-style stock footage clips in a single video)? Is it that he frames each video with a larger more philosophical question? Is it because he has a friendly face? I watch a channel with some quirky British/London guys on weird things about the city ( [VIDEO] , [LINK] ) but it has never taken off like Tom Scott (-- and this is amusing, despite Tom Scott having initially been the guy who designed their intro clip). Maybe it's just too local (no so-what for me) to feel like it's broadly interesting, or they don't lead out to the bigger theme so-what? Maybe there's just some confluence of x-factors that propel certain people to fame.

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@speps2023 · in “Engineering Icons Tube Map”

At least they credited Harry Beck this time... Jay Foreman's channel covered the history of the iconic Tube map: [VIDEO]

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@andrybak2024 · in “London Tube map redesigned by Essex lecturer goes viral”

> I remember watching a design documentary years ago Was it Map Men? They mention not forcing the London tube map onto the geographical map. It has two parts: 1. "The Tube Map nearly looked very different" [VIDEO] 2. "What went wrong with the Tube Map?" [LINK]

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@TonyTrapp2024 · in “London Tube map redesigned by Essex lecturer goes viral”

Ever after watching Jay Foreman's videos on Harry Beck's tube map ( [VIDEO] and [LINK] ), a reply from TfL like this one hits differently: > A TfL spokesperson said the original Tube map was "an iconic piece of world-renowned design" and there were no plans to change it.

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@harry_beck2025 · in “Live London Underground / bus maps taken down by TfL trademark complaint”

It's a sad irony that TFL didn't even want this version of the map originally, and it was given to them, and maintained for free (I think) by a map enthusiast like the author of this version I think Harry Beck would think history was repeating itself [VIDEO]

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