In 1931, Harry Beck revolutionised the London Underground map with his angular representation, inspired by electric circuit diagrams. Initially poo-pooed by the powers that be, two years later, the map was tweaked and published for public use.
One of design's greatest triumphs, it's as pleasing to the artistic senses as it is practical. Over the decades, though the blueprint remained the same, the design shifted — diamonds swapped for circles, all caps station names switched for sentence case.
Now 15-year-old London Transport Museum volunteer Arturs Dobrecovs has reimagined today's tube map, in Beck's original style. The young designer explains to Londonist: "We all know the amazing original map, but obviously if you love it enough to try to use it in day-to-day life then you will probably struggle, since it is a bit behind the times.
"Seeing that I had a lot of free time, and found a gap in the market, I've recreated the modern days map so that it's a bit more useful in 2020."
The result — which includes the planned Northern and Bakerloo line extensions — is nothing short of beautiful. In fact, we'd rather like TfL's app to feature a 'map to the future' option.
