Two talks covering the latest university research on the usability of maps and plans. Peter B Lloyd talked through the results of his study on the New York City Subway Map, and in particular the impact of colour coding when it comes to navigation. By contrast and focussing on the National Maritime Museum Greenwich, Andrew McIlwraith discussed the effectiveness of different design approaches in the design of museum guides.
About our speakers
Peter B Lloyd after a career in software development, has embarked on his PhD to follow his interests in the history and design of metro maps. He has published Vignelli: Transit Maps (RIT Press, 2012), the first part of a planned multi-volume history of the New York City subway map. He is registered as a doctoral candidate at the University of Kent at Canterbury, with a project entitled The Automated Design of Metro Maps.
Andrew McIlwraith is currently studying for his PhD at the University of Reading’s Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, having completed a Masters degree there in 2013. His first degree was in architecture, but his career has been mostly in journalism. His interest in information design and the presentation of complex information began when he was an editor at Which? magazine in the 1990s.