A Tale of Two Maps

Abstract

This article presents an analytical approach to the problem of information organization, with special emphasis on diagrammatic design. The approach involves three levels: (a) abstraction of data into representational elements, (b) integration of these elements to create coherent structures of information, and (c) configuration of such coherent structures, through underlying order, into a whole. To illustrate this approach, the abstract map (the “Diagram”) of the London underground is analyzed, and the design techniques observed are brought to the fore. The article concludes with several principles that can be encapsulated as constraints for an algorithmic approach to diagram generation.