Blue Crow Media is an independent publisher of beautifully designed city guide maps on many subjects – you may be familiar with their “Brutalist Architecture” series – and this new map is the first in a planned series of maps about public transportation networks around the world.

Edited by Mark Ovenden (of Transit Maps of the World fame) with some lovely photos by Will Scott, the map promises to be an authoritative guide to the design and architecture of the world’s oldest rapid transit system. While it falls a little short of those lofty goals – there’s only so much information you can show on a two-sided sheet – it certainly provides a salivating overview of the highlights that should pique just about every transport and design lover’s interest, from the best of Charles Holden’s Art Deco stations to the locations of Underground roundels that use Gill Sans or Arial in place of Johnston Sans and even oddities like a connection between the Underground and the evil Daleks from Doctor Who! The text is just a short paragraph or so for each entry, but does a good job of pointing out why each example has been included, whether it’s for historical or aesthetic reasons.

The geographical map of the Underground on the reverse side is serviceable, but I feel like a little more could have been done with it. The stations listed in the text are highlighted on the map, but it’s quite subtle and could perhaps have been made a little more obvious. I’d also have liked to see some more photographs or pertinent facts incorporated into the map itself, as there’s quite a lot of empty space due to the geographical format. Still, it’s a handy overview of the whole network, and is executed quite nicely.

Best of all, at just £9.00 (around $US12), it’s a perfect stocking stuffer for the transit, travel or design aficionado in your family. Very definitely recommended.

Map at Blue Crow Media’s on-line store (UK)

Map on Amazon.com (US – affiliate link)