1. Harry Beck Brian Russell

2. Exam expectations Issues associated with designers are regularly tested in the written paper. You should be able to describe the work of Harry Beck, who is famous for designing the London Underground map. You should also be able to create schematic diagrams in the style of Harry Beck.

3. Harry Beck Henry Charles Beck, known as Harry Beck, was born in Leyton in 1902. During the 1920s, Beck worked as an engineering draughtsman at the London Underground Signals Office. In 1931, he proposed a radical new design to illustrate the rapidly expanding Underground system.

4. The problem The Underground Group's draughtsman, Fred Stingemore, had been finding it increasingly difficult to squeeze new lines and stations into his map. Beck could see that the network had become too big to represent geographically, and worked on a solution to the problem in his own time.

5. Harry’s idea “Looking at an old map of the Underground railways it occurred to me that it might be possible to tidy it up by straightening the lines, experimenting with diagonals and evening out the distance between stations”.

6. Beck’s solution Beck's solution was to map the network schematically, using a system based on electrical circuit diagrams. A trial pocket version was published in 1933, just before the Underground became part of the London Passenger Transport Board.

7. Beck’s solution The crowded central area has been enlarged and reorganised so it is easier to see the stations. The far less crowded outlying stations have been brought closer together so the distances between stations appears to be the same

8. Beck’s development As the Underground system expanded Beck was able to develop the map further. This development has continued to the present day

9. The future Beck’s idea has been used in a wide range of similar maps such as this walking map

10. Further development Dr Max Roberts published this version of the map in 2013 based on the idea of using arcs

11. Beck’s influence Beck’s original idea has been copied and adapted throughout the world

12. Beck’s influence The same idea is used to indicate the principal rail routes throughout the UK

13. Conclusions Like a lot of very simple ideas, Harry Beck’s legacy remains with us today His idea of spreading out the central area so it is easy to understand and squashing in the outskirts so they all appear to be equal distance apart is a very clever way of communicating this type of information. Tidying up the lines into a geometric grid is also a simple idea and we have seen several variations on this. Think about how Beck’s ideas could be adapted for other information.