Now, I don’t want answering this sort of question to become a habit — I’m more interested in looking at maps than being some sort of public transportation help desk — but I’ll make an exception just this once.
The short answer is that you can’t, as the Metro itself doesn’t go to CDG. However, a quick glance at the official Paris Metro/RER map tells you that you can catch a train on the RER “B” line from CDG (shown at the very top right hand corner of the map) to the Chatelet-Les Halles station, where you can transfer to Metro Line 14 (via a short walk through tunnels to the connected Chatelet Metro station) towards Olympiades. Bercy is just two stops down the line!
17th March 2013
Notes: 4
Here’s a question from an anonymous follower, who asks:
“Is it good or bad to depict lines under construction on subway maps?”
In my opinion, if the line is actually under construction, then it’s definitely a good thing to show it. It gets users acquainted with the new line before it opens and generates interest. How you show it is up to you - dashed lines are the usual way, although advances in printing mean that transparent or translucent lines are also being used.
If a line is currently being planned, then I don’t think it should be shown on the map - things could change during the planning process and this could confuse people.
However, a good map designer will always work at future-proofing his map, so that new lines can be added in the future without having to reconfigure what already exists. This is one of the reasons why the Washington, DC Metro map has lasted so long - it was planned from the beginning to show the current track layout. It was only once the Dulles extension began construction that the map needed a review, as that extension was not part of the original plan.
From my own experience, when I did my own redesign of the Boston “T” map earlier this year, I purposefully aligned the northern end of the Green Line at Lechmere with the Lowell commuter rail line to take into account the planned Green Line extension, which shares the same right of way as the Lowell line (see picture above). The current official map doesn’t do this and will need to be redrawn when (and if) the Green Line extension opens.
Good question! I generally know what the finished size of the piece should be and work within those restrictions. For example, my Interstate as Subway Map posters are 36 inches wide x 24 inches deep, so that’s how big I set up my artboard in Adobe Illustrator. Some tweaking, tightening and reworking is often required to make everything fit just so!
Ultimately, it’s no use making a nice-looking map if it doesn’t fit into the space it needs to go in. Real transit maps have very particular requirements (Boston’s maps have to fit into a square, for example, because that’s the space allowed at all the stations), so you’d better get used to them!
EDIT: Just realised my answer was slightly tangential to the question. To answer it more directly: I block the routes in first to make sure they have good flow and rhythm. If I need to add city/country boundaries or shoreline, I add them after. The routes are the most important part of the map in my eyes. There can be a bit of give and take between the two parts as the design progresses, but I’ll always try to give the routes priority.
But if I tell you all my secrets, then I won’t have any left! :-)
While it’s unlikely that I will make video tutorials (not enough time in the day to add that to the mix!), I have already written a short guide to designing transit maps over on my personal blog. Check it out!
I have also made a “time lapse” video of one of my projects which I’ll try to dig up today - it’s kind of fascinating to see how the project grew so organically…
Those old Berlin maps are totally awesome, aren’t they? I haven’t reviewed the current map yet, but will do so soon. I also want to take a look at the first post-reunification map from the early 1990s… it’s just as fascinating as the Cold War ones!
Transit Maps has posted lots of truly excellent and moderately good maps so far, but very few truly terrible ones. So, we’re asking you what the absolute worst, most indecipherable, poorly produced transit map you’ve ever seen is… the most heinous will be featured on Transit Maps in the future!
Boston “T” Map Redesign - Anyone Interested in Prints?
So I just made a one-off poster of my Boston “T” redesign as a giveaway for the HOW Design Conference that is being held in Boston this June (see the connection there?). Originally, I wasn’t thinking of offering these maps for general sale, but when the poster came back from the printer, I was pretty much blown away by how awesome it looked. So much so, I may just have changed my mind…
So, here’s the question: Who’s interested in prints? They would be 36”x24”, printed on gorgeous 250gsm Red River Aurora Fine Art White 100% cotton rag paper, priced at $39 + shipping (the same as my Interstate and US Route maps).
Secondary question: if you had to pick only one of the four variants - current services including key bus routes, current services excluding buses, future services including buses, future services excluding buses - which would you choose? (Check out all four by clicking here.)
I’m probably only going to print one variant, and probably in a limited edition, so choose wisely, okay?
