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The Tube Map nearly looked very different

Map Men · 2.6M views · 2022-09-26 · 11:24

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Overview

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.

On Hacker News

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

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2022–2025

Topics

Data visualization & information designTransit, cities & urban planningGraphic design & typography
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london tubeharry beckmap designinformation designjay foreman

What people said

harry_beck · 2025-01 · Reference

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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andrybak · 2024-08 · Reference

> 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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TonyTrapp · 2024-08 · Reference

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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Sources

Video by Map Men, played through YouTube.

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HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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