Tube Map Posters: Three Kinds, From Beck's 1933 Diagram to Maps of Albums, Films and Towns
Tube map posters come in three kinds: the current London Underground network map, historical editions of Harry Beck's diagram from 1933 onwards, and maps of other subjects drawn in the same visual language. I design the third kind, tube map art prints of albums, films and towns, and this guide sets out what each kind is for.
The Three Kinds of Tube Map Poster, Side by Side
People searching for a tube map poster usually want one of these three, and they are rarely interchangeable.
| Kind | What it shows | Where it comes from | Check before buying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Underground map | Today's network of lines and stations | Transport for London, through the London Transport Museum shop | The edition date, because lines and stations keep being added |
| Historical edition | A past version of the network, most often Beck's 1933 diagram | Museum reproductions, or period originals from specialist dealers | Whether it is a modern reproduction or an original printing |
| Tube map art of another subject | Anything shaped like a network: a band, a film, a town | Independent designers, including me | What the lines and stations stand for, and whether the research holds up |
The First Tube Map Posters Went Up in March 1933
Harry Beck drew his diagram in 1931, during a spell between jobs, and London Underground's publicity office turned it down as too radical because it ignored distance. After a trial printing it was issued as a pocket map in January 1933. English Heritage records that around 850,000 pocket copies were printed in the first two months.
In March 1933 Beck produced the first quad royal poster versions, 40 x 50 in, which is larger than my biggest print at A1. He stayed principal designer of the map until 1959.
I have written about why the design works at all in what tube map art is, and about the wiring diagram logic behind it in Harry Beck's design applied to music and film. The point worth keeping here is that the tube map was a poster almost from the start: made to be read on a wall, by someone standing still long enough to trace a route.
Buying an Official London Underground Map Poster
If you want the real network, go to the source. The London Transport Museum shop sells the current Tube map as a poster, alongside reproductions of historical editions.
Three of its historical prints show how far the format stretches. There is a reproduction of Beck's 1933 map, with diamonds marking the interchange stations, and a 1941 Beck map showing Underground extensions that were planned and then cancelled after the war.
The third is Tate Gallery by Tube, David Booth's 1987 poster for Art on the Underground, where each line is paint squeezed from a tube. That one matters to me, because it shows London Transport's own poster programme bending the diagram to other subjects decades before I drew a single discography.
Original or reproduction?
A reproduction is a new print of an old design, usually on modern poster or silk paper. An original is a period printing, and a first state 1933 pocket map turns up through specialist map and rare book dealers rather than gift shops. If a listing says vintage, ask when it was printed.
Music Tube Map Posters: Following One Musician Through the Albums
On my music maps each studio album is a station, in release order, and each credited musician is a named line through the records they played on. The shape of the network is the shape of the career.
The Rolling Stones discography art print carries 28 studio albums and 152 credited musicians, with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts on all 28 stations. Watts reaches the last two through sessions recorded before his death in 2021. The David Bowie discography art print carries 26 stations and 165 credited musicians, and a copy is held at the V&A David Bowie Centre in London.
Producers only get a line when they are also credited with playing something. George Martin earns his across all 13 Beatles releases on credited musical input, so he runs beside the four members on the Beatles albums in order art print. Each map starts as weeks of credits entered by hand into a spreadsheet before anything is plotted in CAD, and how I make my music maps sets out the process.
If you have never read one, how to read a music map walks through a printed sheet one station at a time.
Film Plot Maps: Characters as Lines, Scenes as Stations
The same grammar works on a story. On a film plot map the characters become lines, the key scenes become stations, and an interchange is a scene where several characters meet.
The James Bond films map art print runs the 25 Eon Productions films from 1962 to 2021 as stations, with the recurring characters as lines and six Bond actors along the way. The Back to the Future plot map art print has to carry two timelines at once, 1985 and 1955, which a list of scenes cannot show.
The Jaws plot map art print, The Shining, Blade Runner and Dirty Dancing are drawn the same way. How a movie becomes a map explains the method.
Tube Maps of Real Places, Drawn Wrong on Purpose
The closest thing I make to a conventional tube map poster is a map of a real place. The Lewes Tube Map art print has eight lines, a DFL Line (Down From London) and the 2030 and 2080 flood risk zones drawn over the East Sussex town. I drew it in the 2020 lockdown, and its title admits it is useless for getting anywhere.
The Uckfield Tube Map art print carries ten lines, five of them named, with the Bluebell and Lavender heritage railways connecting in. The Brighton and Hove Albion tube map art print applies the method to a football club, with managers, grounds and owners as lines from 1901. All three work best for someone who knows the place, and the Lewes tube map explained shows why.
How to Choose a Tube Map Poster for Your Wall
Start with what the person cares about. A Londoner or a transport enthusiast probably wants the official map, someone who loves design history may want 1933, and someone who knows every credit on a band's records will get more from a map of that band.
Look at a detail image at close to actual size, because a tube map is read, not glanced at. If the lettering is unreadable in a close-up, it will be unreadable on the wall.
My maps come in A3 (420 x 297 mm), A2 (594 x 420 mm) and A1 (841 x 594 mm), with 16 x 12 in, 24 x 18 in and 36 x 24 in as separate formats rather than conversions. Every size is supplied unframed or ready to hang in a black wood frame. Both Beatles maps and the Levellers map are A1 only, for the reasons in why some art prints are A1 only.
One honest distinction: mine are Giclée prints on 230gsm fine art paper rather than posters in the usual sense. Music posters vs music art prints explains the difference, and A2 or A1 helps if you are stuck between two sizes.
Before You Buy a Tube Map Poster: Five Questions
Where can I buy official London Underground tube map posters?
The London Transport Museum shop, online or at the museum in Covent Garden, sells the current map and reproductions of historical editions. Original period maps come from specialist map and rare book dealers.
What is the difference between a tube map poster and tube map art?
A tube map poster usually shows the Underground itself. Tube map art borrows the diagram's lines, stations and interchanges to show something else, such as the musicians on a band's albums or the characters in a film.
Are your maps official London Underground maps?
No. I have no connection with Transport for London or the London Transport Museum, and none of my maps shows the Underground. They use the visual grammar Beck invented, applied to music, film and places.
What is not on a music tube map?
Live albums, compilations and soundtracks are usually left off, because most of my music maps carry studio albums only. A few carry a named exception, and anything released after a map was drawn is not on it until I redraw it. What gets left off a discography map lists the decisions.
Can I buy a tube map poster framed?
Mine, yes: every size of every map is offered unframed or in a black wood frame. If you would rather frame one yourself, how to frame an A1 print covers what I supply and what you can do.
Every Map on One Page
Every map I have drawn sits on one A to Z page, music, film and places together. If you are buying for someone and cannot ask which subject they would pick, the gift card lets them choose their own.