And... how much crack comes with this $300 map?

This may be a art design classic, but it is not "good" design. Good design should take into account the user, which in this case is the map reader. This new version may be being sold as a work of art, but the original Vignelli was *supposed* to help people get around on the subway. The scale was off, straight lines for subway routes were used instead of more accurate representations...a classic example of bad design. Sorry for the rant, but I constantly have to argue to designers here at work that our audience needs to be able to *read* the designed piece we give them! It shouldn't just look pretty - good design can aspire to do both.

The Vignelli map was fantastic and easy to use. Even today's map is distorted vis-a-vis the scale and proportion of lower Manhattan versus the rest of the city. Like London's map, the point is to guide you from station to station -- after all, you can't see landmarks etc. when you are in a tube underground. Of course, London is much better at having good local maps when you arrive at your destination. NY is posting some -- but needs to get better at this.

A lot of us old fogies grew up with the Vignelli map -- and, oddly enough, we seem to know the system better . . .

This is much more a diagram than a map. And in that sense, it is designed very well. As a diagram it makes perfect sense (as a map - not so much).

I miss the original Vignelli map. The current map is an unholy mess, with station names running at every angle, overlapping lines, and pop-up boxes everywhere.

The straight lines and clean typography of the Vignelli design did the job just fine. When I'm riding the train, I just need to know which stop comes after which stop. It doesn't matter how many times the tracks curve between stations.

No, the Vignelli map did not show the geography of the city accurately. But neither does the new map.

I'll be the dissenter here: I very much need to know how many times (and where) the tracks curve between stations, as it's the only way to figure out whether you need to switch lines in order to wind up at your destination without many long blocks of walking. (Case in point: the A train and the No. 1 exchange places three times as being the line farthest to the west!) I want as much information from my map as possible ... and a diagram doesn't cut it.

This looks very much like the map that the D.C. subway system uses, which is SO easy to use, and is visually beautiful. I'd prefer it to be free, than $400, though.

I'm gonna have to give some thought to what Jane said, though, because she probably has a good point.

Yes, there is a butt-crazy load of info on the current maps, but sometimes you actually need that info, because you are using a *map*. I agree that one of the pieces of info you need is the order the stations come in, but I appreciate that the current map gives you at least a sense of how the above ground and subway geography overlap.

I don't understand the problem that Jane is raising. Doesn't the map indicate the cross overs?

It's also missing information about bus transfers.

i was excited when i saw this, as i have been looking for a vignelli subway map in good shape for a good price.

this however does not qualify as a good price, for me anyway.

i love the design though. and if i had an extra 300 bucks to put into this i would.

"It's also missing information about bus transfers."

Its a subway diagram - not a mass-transit diagram...

So if the new one is $300, how much for an original?

This is a limited edition. You can probably find the original Vignelli map for sale on eBay for a few bucks.

Or you can look at this:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/img/maps/system_1972.jpg

I don't know what the ruckus is about here -- it's a fine effort. It improves on the old design (feels vaguely retro, the parallel colored lines evoke that 1970s typeface craziness) and is equally functional as the old one.

It's no Underground map. But then again nothing is.

they come up on ebay often.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1972-New-York-City-Subway-Map-MINT-by-Massimo-Vignelli_W0QQitemZ270230146558QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4152QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

a really fine example will fetch between 200 and 300 dollars.

"You can probably find the original Vignelli map for sale on eBay for a few bucks."

i wish.

I found one of these old subway maps a few months ago in my father's study and framed it because I thought it was beautiful... I had no idea it was worth anything!

Wow -- I have a bunch of them in a box. Glad I kept them!

Wow! not interested in making someone superhappy by selling me one!? I ve been looking for them for a while!

"The scale was off, straight lines for subway routes were used instead of more accurate representations...a classic example of bad design."

— It's simplification and is essential in wayfinding maps to show the user ONLY what they need to know. You are exactly wrong. The user does not need to know that a subway line weaves slightly left, then right, underground. They only need to know that it goes from A to B.

Giving the user precisely the right amount of information is good design. Whether it is a factual representation of unnecessary details is irrelevant.

Mr. Vignelli may have gone a hair too Modernist with his map but it's worlds better than what we are forced to use today. Too much information to digest.