The Language of Visual Business Intelligence

Tour de Flex Live Planetary Dashboard

Futuretech Labs - Sunday, August 08, 2010


Watch the Internet Spread Around the World

Futuretech Labs - Thursday, March 25, 2010

London Underground Transport Map

Futuretech Labs - Monday, October 19, 2009

The classic father of all subway maps, the London Underground map, was the brainchild of Underground electrical draughtsman, Harry Beck, who produced this imaginative yet stunningly simple design back in 1933.

This is a great example of how timeless infographics can be. Yes there WERE information designers back in the 30's doing what we here are doing today. Their thought processes were the same - they just didn't have the tools at their disposal that we do today.

Beck based the map on the circuit diagrams he drew for his day job, stripping the sprawling Tube network down to basics and ignoring the exact geographical location of the tube stations. The result was an instantly clear and comprehensible chart that would become an essential guide to London - and a template for transport maps the world over.

Beck's revolutionary design, with certain modifications and additions, survives to the present day and is set to serve London Underground and its millions of customers for many years to come.