Design legend Michael Bierut tells the story of the accidental success of one of the most famous maps in the world – the London Tube Map.
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Watch
Glossary
- to cram – to put things or people into a container or place, although there is hardly enough room for them
- draftsman – a person who makes mechanical drawings, draws sketches, plans, or designs
- circuitry – the connected arrangement of the wires and other parts of a closed system through which electricity can flow
- to be onto sth – having done or discovered something important, special
- crisp – clear, noticeably neat
- to break down – to separate, or to separate something, into smaller parts
Discuss
Answer the questions below:
- What was Harry Beck’s key insight about the London underground?
- What does Beck’s design resemble? Why?
- What are the three principles that can be applied in nearly any design problem according to the speaker? Would you agree?
Practice Makes Perfect
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Fill in the gaps with the correct article (a, an, the or nothing):
(1) ….. history of civilization, in some ways, is (2) …… history of (3) …. Maps. How have we come to understand (4) …… world around us? One of (5) …… most famous maps works because it really isn’t (6) …. map at all.
(7) ….. map they made is complicated. You can see (8) ….. rivers, (9) …. bodies of water, (10) …. trees and (11) …. parks. (12) ….. stations were all crammed together at (13) ….. centre of (14) …. map, and out in (15) ….. periphery, there were some that couldn’t even fit on (16) …. map.
Harry Beck was (17) …. 29-year –old engineering draftsman who had been working on and off for (18) … London Underground. He had (19) …. key insight. It’s (20) …. system that’s important, not (21) … geography.
Key: The; 2 a; 3 -; 4. the; 5. the; 6. A; 7. The; 8. -; 9. -; 10. -; 11. - ; 12. the; 13. The; 14. the; 15. the; 16. The; 17. A; 18. The; 19. A; 20. The; 21. the
Discussion
- Do you like reading maps? Are you good at it?
- Who do you think is better at reading maps? Men or women?
- Have you ever got lost using a map?
- Have you ever made or drawn a map?
- Would you like to work as a cartographer?
- Do you ever use mind maps to learn English vocabulary?
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In A Time Of Uncharted Events, Businesses Lean Heavily On A Time-Tested Tool: Maps
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