Underground map production
Request ID: FOI-2398-1819
Date published: 14 January 2019
You asked
Follow on from: FOI-1937-1819
Thank you for the information regarding Underground map production since 2000. I did not know the Pulse Cartographic Agency were involved.
I would like more detail than is contained in your reply, however.
Until the year 2000, the responsibility for map design is pretty well documented in the book 'Underground Maps After Beck' by Maxwell Roberts [published 2005 by Capital Transport, updated 2008], but after 2000 the persons or agency working on the map becomes less clear. According to the book:
- From 1997 the map was designed by Alan Foale and Clockwork, a company that later changed its name to LS London (about 2004, p99),
- It was still produced by Foale and Clockwork in Feb/May 2001 (p93) when a new design was published.
- The map was redesigned for release in autumn 2004 (by Clockwork, to improve 'access' information) but this was never published. (p98, 99, 101).
- The November 2007 (poster) map was still designed by LS London (p101 caption). Max Roberts tells me "My information came from interviews with Mike King, then head of LU marketing, and Doug Rose, whose involvement with various aspects of LT, LRT, and TfL cartography go back decades."
A YouTube interview from 2016 with Jon Hunter ( Head of 3D and 2D design for the Underground) certainly gives the impression the map is designed in-house at that date, probably using tailor-made software. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQ3o88SOiA&app=desktop
So I am left with the questions:
1. At what date did LS London and Alan Foale cease to be engaged in Underground map design / production?
2. At what date were Pulse first engaged to assist in tube map design or production?
3. When did the map design move entirely in-house?
4. Were any other design agencies involved since 2000 -- in between LS London and Pulse?
I am hoping you can provide answers to these questions, or provide a simple list of who designed the map on year-by-year basis from 2000.
We answered
TfL Ref: 2398-1819
Thank you for your email received by us on 10 December 2018 asking for information about London Underground map production.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked:
1. At what date did LS London and Alan Foale cease to be engaged in Underground map design / production?
I can advise that LS London rebranded as Pulse Creative in 2010 and continue to be engaged in the design development and production of artwork for the Tube Map.
In reference to Alan Foale, in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation this personal data has been withheld, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.
2. At what date were Pulse first engaged to assist in tube map design or production?
Pulse Creative were first engaged to assist in Tube Map production in 2010.
3. When did the map design move entirely in-house?
The design direction for the Tube Map has always been overseen by the in-house teams.
4. Were any other design agencies involved since 2000 -- in between LS London and Pulse?
The following agencies were involved during:
1998 – 2005 Clockwork
2005 – 2010 LS London
2010 – Present day Pulse Creative
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London
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