Heller on map reading

March 9, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Filed under Books, Maps

As Steven Heller says, “There’s nothing like sitting by the fire with a good book, except maybe sitting by the fire with a good map — or better yet, a good book about maps. I’ve noticed an upsurge in cartographic interest these days, especially for maps’ value as conceptual artwork.” — A.M.

Monochrome map

March 4, 2010 at 10:23 am
Filed under Maps, Wayfinding

“Brooklyn based designers David Heasty and Stefanie Weigler (of Triboro Design) have produced a new New York City subway map printed in a single color: Fluorescent red, of course. As Heasty notes, ‘The new design strips away the familiar color-coding of the subway system routes while still maintaining a level of hierarchy and functionality.’” — A.M.

Map this

March 2, 2010 at 10:08 am
Filed under Maps, Wayfinding

Like many of us, Italian industrial designer Emanuele Pizzolorusso thinks requiring a harried tourist to carefully crease and fold an awkward city map “the right way” is too much to ask. So he’s come up with a no-fuss alternative: the Crumpled City Map. Printed on Dupont™ Tyvek® and designed to cram into a small bag, it’s virtually indestructible, highly portable, and waterproof. –P.M.K.

Find your way in a flash

February 25, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Filed under Maps, Technology, Wayfinding

“The TamTam Flash concept GPS torch is both a familiar looking and new technology in a number of ways. It resembles an ordinary flashlight and its name sounds an awful lot like TomTom, which neatly links to the fact that the concept torch is actually a GPS mapping device that gives its user the option of either a street map view or a turn by turn guided navigation projected onto a surface.” — A.M.

The river runs through it (again)

October 5, 2009 at 9:00 am
Filed under Maps, Uncategorized

We blogged recently about the new map for the London Underground, which officials decided in their infinite wisdom should NOT include the River Thames. Well, public outcry has changed their minds and the river will remain on the new, simplified maps. It’s  an interesting look at how strong public sentiment runs for iconic mapping systems like London’s and the New York Subway map.

Our next issue of segdDESIGN magazine (hitting the streets Oct. 16) includes two fascinating connections to this story. We profile Legible London, designed to provide a coordinated pedestrian wayfinding system that encourages Londoners to walk and replaces vestiges of more than 30 former sign systems. When the new system was developed, Tim Fendley of Applied Information Group says, the Undergound map was the most-used tool for wayfinding aboveground.  

And in another map-related story, we tell how the Detroit region tourism agency has developed an iconic set of maps—inspired by the London Underground and New York City Subway maps— to play up tourist destinations and demystify a complex, spread-out, and economically diverse region. We interviewed Eric La Brecque of Applied Storytelling about the project.  –P.M.K.

Mapping old terrain

October 2, 2009 at 8:21 am
Filed under Maps

For all you map geeks out there — you know who you are — there’s a new must-have for your library or coffee table. Katharine Harmon’s The Map as Art The International movie surveys the use of maps in contemporary art, proving that, even in a hyperconnected world we can navigate using GPS and Google Maps, cartography is still and always an inspiration. Harmon (an “incurable map collector” who also gave us You are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination), demonstrates how contemporary artists use maps to explore notions of identity, dislocation, and discovery. –P.M.K.Melody video

The Mannahatta Project

September 3, 2009 at 8:14 am
Filed under Maps

“Have you ever wondered what New York was like before Seed buy it was a city?” — A.M. A American Hauntingn video download When a Man Loves a Woman movie

Scents and the city

August 31, 2009 at 9:20 am
Filed under Maps

From the New York Times, a unique method of classifying the neighborhoods

• Mean Girls dvd

of New York City. – K.E.

U.S. map artworks

August 14, 2009 at 11:32 am
Filed under Maps

The US map

, reinvented. And no, I don’t read Woman’s Day. Well, at least not regularly… J.K.

Filth and Wisdom divx

Maps of yore

July 22, 2009 at 8:30 am
Filed under Maps

They didn’t get everything right (California is NOT an island…) but these maps

• Wall Street dvdrip

 are fascinating for what they intended to show: ethnographic and population distribution, religious borders, urban planning, and more. — A.M. Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Unfaithful film Children of Dune movie Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian dvd

• City of Rott movie full