New York Subway Guide, 1972

How Vignelli’s Design Still Influences NYC’s Subway Maps Today

Celebrating Massimo Vignelli’s Design Legacy

One of Massimo Vignelli’s legacies is his NYC Subway System signage. The comprehensive visual design system includes Helvetica typeface and an iconic color scheme for the subway’s various lines.

In my recent article on the impact Vignelli had on the NYC Subway System, I explained how he was instrumental in consolidating the signage and visual design across the city’s mass transit system. His design for the 1972 NYC Subway diagram was loved by design fans for its clean, non-geographical presentation. His end goal was to help passengers navigate the subway without confusion by having a minimal amount of information needed at each step of their journey. He called this concept going from “dot to dot.”

1972 Vignelli subway diagram designed by Massimo Vignelli on behalf of the MTA. The diagram used clean angled color coded lines for the subway routes devoid of above ground details. For Vignelli, the user experience was about knowing where you are on the subway line and where you want to go — traveling from “dot to dot”.

Vignelli chose to omit above ground details altogether on his diagrammatic map, in favor of an easy to read color-coded system, showing evenly spaced stations that can be memorized as you ride a route.

Although his work on the subway map was highly regarded by design enthusiasts, missteps in implementation allowed for it to be…