CrapWeLike

Ok, so this awesome man designed all the subway signs you see (yes, in helvetica) for NYC. He also designed the holy grail of subway maps, which the City rejected originally because he didn’t make the water blue and the land green, or from something stupid like that (no joke, I read it in NY Mag recently and when I have time, I’ll find it again and add a link). Anyway, Vignelli updated his map, thus making all my dreams come true.

Now Men’s Vogue is selling the prints and I’m totally considering buying one. Here’s from their website:

“Before New York’s familiar convoluted subway map was introduced in 1979, the city relied on the sleek modernist vision of Massimo Vignelli’s indelible 1972 design: each train line represented by a color, each stop by a dot. The plan was as visually utopian as it was elegant — paths running on 45- and 90-degree angles, an understated gray square marking Central Park, and type set in clear Helvetica. It was hailed as an instant classic of graphic design. But it left many feeling stranded. “People expected a map instead of a diagram,” Vignelli, 77, says. “But diagrammatic representation is common practice around the world since the London Underground map of the thirties.” Now, with some urging from Men’s Vogue, Vignelli (along with his team of Yoshiki Waterhouse and Beatriz Cifuentes-Caballero) has updated his famous, ultra-collectible plan, taking into account more than 30 years’ worth of changes. He’s still unwilling to play tour guide: “On purpose we rejected any visual reference to nature or landmarks.” Vignelli released 500 signed limited-edition art prints of the never-before-seen update — available exclusively for Men’s Vogue — with proceeds to benefit Omar Freilla’s nonprofit Green Worker Cooperatives. (The prints sold out on May 1, 2008.) The hope is to get the daily commutes — and aesthetic sensibilities — of New Yorkers back on the right track.”