Canal Tube Map 3.1

A few years ago i created a Birmingham canals map in the style of the iconic London tube map. Over the years the map has expanded in scope a bit and the map style has slowly evolved. Version 3.1 of the map has just been published which includes some stylistic improvements as well as some refinements how a number of canals are shown. Click here to check it out!

Midlands Rail Map

A few days ago i updated my Midlands Canals Tube Map, a map of the inland waterways in the Midlands done in a pseudo-London tube map style. While i had all the shapes and colours already worked out i decided to create another map. This one is of the railways in the Midlands, routes and destinations more or less easily available from Birmingham.

Its not finished yet, i have still to create the key and i might amend some of the details but i really like the way it looks. Some parts of the design admittedly like the font used is probably not to everyone's taste. Interestingly my map is more up to date than the official Midlands rail map which hasn't got the new Stratford Parkway station on it yet!

Erdington station, look for it on the map!

New waterways map!

I've finally got around to transferring my Canal Tube Map into the right format for the graphics program i use nowadays (Photoshop) and while doing so i decided to update it a bit... and then a bit more and in the end quite a lot! So proudly presenting version 3.0 of what is now a Canal and Navigable River Map.

I first created the map a number of years ago, seeking to create a Birmingham Canal Navigations map in the style of the London Tube Map, over time the map has expanded to include canals like the Stratford-upon-Avon and navigable rivers in the West Midlands. The style has also deviated from the London tube map somewhat.

Version 3.0 has the following updates:

• New font used for titles, no reason for changing really apart from the fact i really like the typewriter font now used! Its a digital version of the actual font of my Brother typewriter in fact.
• Amends to a number of canals including Titford and W&E.
• Rivers now more clearly shown
• A few extra places shown

I hope you find it useful or at least mildly diverting... 

First World War infographics

You can't move on the internet these days without someone trying to convey information using an infographic (and most of them are pretty awful to be honest). However newspapers have been using graphics to try and illustrate concepts to readers for a long time and in this fascinating gallery the Guardian newspaper republishes some of the infographics from the First World War (though in those days they were mostly known as maps and diagrams).

I particularly like the aviation graphics such as the one trying to show the Gotha bomber's gun turret.