Our brief was to visual communicate a particular year/ period, and to use the numerals of the date itself as the basis of the piece. We were challenged to 'avoid the obvious and use imagination, wit to surprise and entertain our audience', as well as communicate the subject matter clearly and succinctly.
I was given the year 1933, the year Henry Beck designed the first London Underground Map. I began my research with finding out what made this piece of design change history for the London Underground. The underground opened in 1863 however this map wasn't published until 1933, maps had been published before Beck's design however were geographically based presentations of the underground which didn't give much clarity of detail. Beck's map stood out for being the first map to concern itself with topology of the railway rather than the geographical.
Therefore it was only fitting to use the original design of the map which included the Johnston typeface to work the numerals 1933 into. Connecting the subject matter and year together meant redirecting the railway tracks in certain places into forming the four numerals, which is why not all of the number is formed as I wanted to change as little as possible.
