Contextual and Theoretical Studies (Information Design - London Underground) - Essay Example

?Contextual and Theoretical Studies (Information Design - London Underground) Introduction Diagrams are normally studied for various reasons and chief among them is the fact that diagrams are easier to understand than pictures and other forms of art such as paintings. Diagrams are normally presented in a simple manner such that the information they are intended to communicate is clearly visible and therefore the target audience always has an easy time decoding the information. It is also important to note that in a diagram, it is always very easy to separate what is important in terms of communication of the intended information from other parts of the diagram that do not have any information and are only placed in the diagram to make it look artistic or just to complete it. This is normally not the case with other forms of art where it is not possible to know what part of the piece was intended for communication and what information it was intended to pass to the viewers. These reasons therefore argue for the case why people may choose a diagram to analyse at the expense of other forms of art (Penrice, 1975). The London underground diagram is used to communicate to ordinary people in the London underground railway system but due to the fact that people have gotten very familiar with it, they tend to ignore it and therefore fail to utilise the information that it provides. It was expected that the diagram would receive a lot of attention from the citizens of the country as well as British art critics due to the fact that the London underground diagram is considered a master piece of art of the twentieth century. Another reason that there should have been more appreciation directed to the diagram is the fact that a lot of artists of the United Kingdom have their residences in London as it is considered a centre for art and culture. It is therefore this reason that studying the diagram is important in order to understand how it communicates to the people of London in the city’s underground railway network (Walker, 1979). History of the London underground diagram The LUD idea dates back to 1931 and was brought by an artist named Henry C. Becks but was first rejected on the argument that it was a very revolutionary piece of art. This rejection was however over turned and the diagram was accepted in 1933 at the expense of Stingmore’s map. It is important to note that Beck, the original designer of the diagram, was also responsible for the various subsequent revisions that were carried out on the diagram to reflect the additions of various lines of the London underground railway line system. The reason why Beck chose to use a diagram instead of a map was as a result of a thorough evaluation of the needs of the public in terms of the need for clarity of the diagram rather than geographical accuracy. The fact that there were additions of various lines to the underground system made it impossible to maintain a geographically correct diagram and therefore the only option was to ensure that the diagram was clear to the public in the sense that they could see clearly the various lines and the outline of the underground train system (Penrice, 1975). The diagram as a map The diagram has been referred to as a map by various artists as well as ordinary people but it should be noted that this reference has been discredited due to various reasons. Most of the critics have argued that diagrams do not possess some of the unique and communicative features found in maps and therefore cannot be referred to as maps. It is however important to note that a further study by various academicians revealed that there are various common characteristics that are shared between maps and diagrams and therefore it is not wrong to refer to diagrams as maps. The main argument about the differences is due to the specific characteristics of maps as they are used to depict actual pieces of earth although in a much smaller size and on a piece of paper. It is also clear that maps are used to reduce three dimensional pieces of earth into two dimensional representations of the same and this therefore means that they are severely reduced in size since it is not possible to represent the earth in its original size on a piece of paper. Diagrams on the other hand are used to communicate a particular piece of information and are normally represented in their original sizes therefore there is normally no need for the reduction of size. Diagrams are drawn by artists and every piece of line denotes something while maps are pictorial representations of the earth (Garland, 2003). It is therefore important to note that the London underground diagram cannot be enlarged to the actual size of the city of London due to several major reasons. The first main reason is that the diagram is not drawn to scale as is the case with maps and therefore if it is enlarged, it would not fit the size and shape of the city of London. This means that an enlargement of the diagram would not look like the geography that it is expected to represent due to the simple reason that the diagram is a highly schematic representation of the same. It is argued that such an enlargement would actually mislead travellers in terms of the actual distances between stations as well as the exact directions of the railway lines. The diagram is normally important to some travellers who normally use it to guide them in the London underground railway system. This therefore means that the diagram cannot be used as a map in the current state that it is and can only be modified in terms of drawing it to scale in order for it to be a true representation of the topography of the City of London. The message being communicated here is that all representations have their flaws and none can be used to depict the whole truth about reality. This means that all representations have a partiality in terms of what they reveal to the public and therefore it is logical to say that all diagrams normally conceal some truth about reality therefore they cannot be said to be perfect in their representations (Ovenden, 2008). Solving route problems through network analysis The diagram is created in such a manner that it joins the various rotes of the London underground railway network using lines which are clearly drawn in order to make it easy for travellers to use it as a tool to aid them in planning their shortest and cheapest routes to their destinations. This is a clear case of network analysis which is normally applied in the business field every day. This means that every time a traveller uses the diagram to solve their route problems, they are actually using their skills to carry out a network analysis and this is a skill that is normally needed to solve network problems in the business world. This therefore means that as much as the diagram was designed in the early 20th century, it also has a lot of use in today’s modern world and also encompasses themes and concepts that are very important in the world that we live in today. It is also a sign that the artists although they may not have been very learned, they had some knowledge that could be used well in the business sector today. The diagram therefore actually gives the chance to travellers to plan their journeys from start to finish without actually travelling and therefore they are able to get certainty in relation to the route they will use, the time they will arrive and the price they will pay (Ovenden, 2008). Signs within a sign The diagram is designed in such a manner that it encompasses other signs inside the diagram which are meant to pass some other information to the viewers. It is quite clear that the diagram is used as a key to guide viewers about the underground railway network. Some of the components on the diagram itself were also included for the sole purpose of guiding the viewers on how to use and understand the diagram. Some of these include the grid which is normally used for locating various train stations and the box which normally explains the colour coding. This makes the two keys signs within a larger sign which in this case is the diagram itself. It is important to note that the designer of the diagram incorporated the grid in the diagram to only represent what is actually contained in it and not anything outside the diagram. The main purpose of the grid is to divide the ground into segments and make it easy for the viewers to understand the diagram quite well and therefore be able to put it into the appropriate use of determining the route to be taken during their journey (Roberts, 2005). It is however important to note that the colour combination used in the diagram to differentiate lines has no specific meaning and is arbitrary. The yellow colour however has no meaning apart from the representing the circle line in the diagram. It is however the nature of human beings to put some meaning to the colours and the meaning that will be assigned to each colour is likely to vary from one viewer to another depending on their way of understanding things. This therefore means that the same colour may carry different meanings as it is viewed by different people. It is however important to note that the central line in the diagram is structurally the most important due to the simple reason that it functions as the base line of all the lines in the network. This is the reason why it is assigned the most conspicuous colour in the spectrum and denotes the base line on the railway network (Roberts, 2005). The use of the colour blue to represent the river Thames is simply in tandem with the convention of using the blue colour to represent water bodies particularly when drawing maps. This representation however does not depict that water is blue as it is clearly known that water is a colourless liquid. It is important to note that the colour blue is normally viewed as a cool colour therefore its depiction of water is only right in the sense that it shows the coldness of the water in the river. The reason why blue is normally used in maps is the fact that the colour of water normally seems to be blue when the sky is cloudless and this is normally a reflection of the colour blue seen in the sky. This has therefore been used traditionally to represent water universally and in today’s modern world, it is still used for the same purpose. This therefore means that no one can mistake the colour blue to mean anything else in the diagram (Walker, 1979). Conclusion Today, diagrams are used to represent various things and their use has become very common in almost all sectors. In the business world, they are used in network analysis and are also used to show the logical flow of information in various ways. Diagrams are also used in the computer software industry to depict the design of a software program or to analyse a series of interconnections of a network. The usage or the utility of a diagram is normally influenced by how good the diagram is in terms of communicating the desired information to the targeted audience and also in terms of the ease of use. Diagrams also increase their utility if they are clear and eliminate the possibility of confusing the viewers. The London underground diagram can therefore be said to have been of a lot of use to the passengers using the railway network as it was designed in a manner which makes it easy to use and therefore passengers are able to determine the easiest and cheapest routes to use in their journeys in a simple and convenient way (Douglas, 2005). Reference list Douglas, R. (2005), The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History, Capital Transport, London, pp. 12 Garland, K. (2003), Mr Beck's Underground Map, Capital Transport. London, pp. 19 Ovenden, M. (2008), Paris Metro Style in map and station design. Harrow Weald, Middlesex: Capital Transport. Penrice, L. (1975), The London Underground Diagram, Graphic Lines, (1), pp. 19-22. Roberts, M. (2005), Underground maps after Beck. Harrow Weald, Middlesex: Capital Transport. Walker, J. A. (1979), The London Underground Diagram, Icographic, 14-15, pp. 2-4 Read More