Map Design
I was to meet a friend at The Place, a dance school in central London. I didn’t know where it was, so I checked their website and found the following map.
Not having quick access to a printer, I pulled out a notecard and drew a small map showing Euston Road, Eversholt Street, King’s Cross, the British Library and The Place. I quickly grabbed my things and left.
I eventually was walking westward down Euston Road when I turned right on Eversholt Street. The Place was no where to be found. I knew it must be closeby because I had just looked at the map on the website. Was the website outdated? Did I write down the wrong street names? What did I miss?
There was a Starbucks just down Euston Road. “They might know where it is,” I thought. I explained to the clerk that I was looking for a place called The Place, that it was somewhere nearby but I didn’t know exactly where. I received only confused looks.
“Sorry I don’t speak English well,” the Indian man said.
I didn’t have time to reexplain myself. After thanking the clerk for his time, I left Starbucks and asked a few more passers-by if they knew where The Place was, but none of them were from the area. I walked back down Euston looking around in all directions for any clues that might give me some direction.
There. Down Duke’s Road, I saw a large sign with The Place logo. Relieved, I entered the building at reception and noticed The Place brochure. I picked it up and paged though, looking for the map that supposedly showed the location of this Place.
This map was different than the one I saw on the website and looked similar to the following map.
It’s amazing what good use of color can do for a map.
How about the map to your place of business? Is it really as easy to use as you think it is? I encourage you to find out and update it if necessary. You might never know how many customers never made it there the first time they tried.
- 18 Jan 04
- design, london, maps, visual communication
Comments
Of course, if the victim had only a black and white printer, that funky coloured map would be back where it started.
I think the problem lies in the fact that the label is more prominent than the building, and without a clear pointer, acts as a locator as well. IMO, a better solution would be to emphasize the arrow from the label to the building.
Dave on 28 Jan 04