Best of Design:Vignelli Transportation

"Despite the horrors of the bureaucratic process involved in the development of a transportation design program, it is highly rewarding to design a better graphic system affecting millions of people daily. This is why we have been involved with such projects as the New York Subway and the Washington Metro."

"To design transportation graphics means mostly to convey the information at the point of decision –– never before, never after. How the information is conveyed is a matter of interpretation, but even then there are quite precise rules for legibility, distance, and size of type."

New York Transit Authority Transportation Graphic Program, 1966

"The New York Subway is the oldest and largest complex network of mass transit in the world. It is a by-product of the merging of three independent railroads, which explains, in part, the lack of unification throughout the system. All considered, it works remarkably well."

"In 1966, we (as Unimark International) were asked to design a graphic system for the subway signs. Bob Noorda, a partner at that time, made a meticulous analysis of the traffic flow in several stations to determine the points of decision and the nature of the information to be conveyed."

"This provided us with the background necessary for proceeding to the next step, the design of the graphic sign system. There were four categories of signs:

1. Line identification
2. Directional messages
3. Informational messages
4. Station identification."

"Previously, signs had been made to order. Ours were designed to be prefabricate and assembled like moveable type to form sentences––an incredibly easy way to solve a problem for a program characterized by inefficiency and as old as the subway itself. Alas, bureaucratic crudeness and unskilled management and labor hindered the implementation of the program as specified by our very accurate manual."

"Our project for the New York Subway was based on a series of modular elements carrying different hierarchies of information, assembled at the point of decision to form the appropriate message. Although the implementation suffered the damages of other inputs, it is still in use."

New York Subway Map, 1970

"Following the system signs, we were asked to design a new map for the New York subway. The design was organized on a 45-degree and 90-degree angled grid in which lines and land followed the basic structure. Every line had a color. Every stop had a dot. Every station is listed. A dot on the line meant that the train would stop at that station. No dot, no stop––simple."

"The map resulted in a beautiful design. Unfortunately, it was replaced in 1979 with a more conventional design."

In 2008, Men's Vogue invited Massimo Vignelli to redesign the map and this theoretical design was published. This new design piqued the interest of the MTA. You can see a variation of this map in use by the NYC Subway today.

Washington Metro Transportation Graphic Program, 1968

"The architect of the Washington Metro is Harry Weese. When he asked us to design the signage for his majestic subway stations, he specified that he did not want anything to be attached to the walls or to interfere with the architectural statement..."

"...so we decided to make use of some freestanding outdoor pylons inside the station platforms: one element only, at the point of need, to carry all the required information."

"The whole system was so well designed that there was very little need for graphics."

"However, someone finally found a way to clutter it with redundant signs."

"Tremendous discipline is required to implement and protect a mass-transportation sign system, and very few cities seem to have the ability to overcome a laissez-faire attitude."