European Railroad Discussion > Harry Beck and the London Underground map

Harry Beck (b.1902 London, d.1974 Southampton) was a cartographer employed by London Transport to create an easy to understand map of the London Underground subway network.

He created a map which used colour codes for the different routes, and used straight lines to depict the various routes.  Also, stations were shown at equal intervals and interchange points were emphasized.

​Central London was emphasized and the branches were shortened to fit on the chart. When introduced to the public in 1933, both as a poster at London Underground stations and as a pocket sized map and guide, it was instantly popular and has remained in use right up to the present.

Originals command high prices on the collectors market, but the current version is available for free or a modest price.

​Many other transit systems have adopted the same style of map.  Included with an image of the 1933 LU map is a Vancouver Translink map in the same style.

​Curiously, Harry Beck attempted to sell the concept to RATP (Paris,France) and they wanted none of it.

​Recently, the late Harry Beck was honoured by a British Heritage "Blue Plaque" (-------, was born here in ------. ------ is famous because---------) on his former house in London.

Mr.Beck was simply a London Transport employee who had a great idea.

If transit maps interest you, this book is terrific. https://www.amazon.com/Transit-Maps-World-Expanded-Collection/dp/0143128493/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1477505107&sr=1-1&keywords=transit+maps+of+the+world+2015

The honourable eminence-grice reminds us readers of TO about the work of Harry Beck.

I remember my first visit to the new London Transport Museum at Covent Garden in the late 90s and seeing the Harry Beck gallery. My first reaction to Harry Beck's magnificent work in developing the "modern" London Tube map -- and the use of this style in hundreds of transit and rail maps afterwards -- was amazement at the fact he did this back in the 30s. Somehow I had decided that this very simple and clean style was much more modern and current than something developed 85 years ago. Totally awesome.

WP17

Beck's design is based on electrical circuit diagrams, lines are either straight or at 45 degrees. The diagram today is very much more complex than the original what with new lines, London Overground and TfL Rail.

Great stuff! I always like it when LT design is recognised, as it really was the forerunner of the now globally over-exploited concept of the "corporate identity" applied to brand recognition. Sadly the lofty aims of raising the standards of the shared environment and of public appreciation of art have (rather like the BBC) been long forgotten.

Nick (86235) points out the vitally important aspect of the design as being like a wiring diagram. The need was to maintain spatial relationships between stations while being able to expand the central area and compress the outskirts. This is now such a commonplace idea, but extraordinary that it never been thought of previously.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/16 06:42 by spflow.