PROJECT #338: ETTARO P&B VIGNELLI / PROJECT #337: INNER NORTH P&B VIGNELLI

This map has rapidly become one of my most popular ones, so I thought I should do a write-up about it.  This tale begins with a risky decision to enter mortgagedom and buy an apartment within my current complex.  The former apartment which I was renting, was decorated in the style of a previous map series (PROJECT #130: SINGLE LINE TRAM MAPS) , and I wanted to switch things up.  I had previously started work on neighbourhood pub and bar maps (PROJECT #330: NEIGHBOURHOOD PUB & BAR MAPS), and the original idea was to simply expand in scale to cover an A0 size, but then I thought about the amazing maps from the 1970’s that Massimo Vignelli designed for the New York City subway network and the simplistic in design symbology for the different lines and I wanted to mimic that aesthetic. 

(the style of maps in my previous apartment) - available in the online shop:
https://admaps.myshopify.com/collections/single-line-tram-map

(an early version of the Ettaro neighbourhood map)

The first version of the Vignelli style map was centred on my apartment complex, which acted as a central location for the lines to radiate from, still including the extent that the new version covers - Thornbury in the north down to North Melbourne in the south.  Google Maps and Open Street Mapping helped get the locations of bars and pubs I had yet had the pleasure to visit, using that data I was able to identify clusters of bars and then connect them geographically in a way that would imitate a subway network.  Some people ask me if these are suggested pub crawl routes.  These are not suggested pub crawl routes, I would never wish that upon ANYBODY’S liver - sure, pick a few on some of the lines - but it would be physically impossible to do any of these lines in one go.

(the original Ettaro-centralised version)

In terms of some knowledge gaps, I know the bars of Brunswick quite well, so getting everything right south of there was a bit of a challenge, especially wine stores that are also bars.  After a few weeks, the version for my apartment was done, and I started selling some versions for other people in the building.  It was at this time that I realised some other people might want a less Ettaro-focused version for their homes.

(the decentralised version of the map)

Decentralising the map was a bit of a challenge.  Particularly given the distribution of bars and pubs in the south-eastern quadrant of the map.  Geographically there are some notable clusters, but also notable black spots - Parkville,  Brunswick West (though some GREAT pubs in that area), and everywhere between Lygon Street in Brunswick East and High Street in Northcote - so utilising space was challenging.  You can cut the map in half diagonally from bottom left to top right and see two obvious concentrations of venues, so I had to connect these two halves in an organic way.

Believe it or not, one of the more onerous parts of making the map is getting the index right, as there’s so many venues to cross-check, and that’s where I tend to lose momentum on less ‘mappy’ tasks, but when that’s done I get to have fun applying some effects to make the map look like it fits in with the 1974 Vignelli map.

Since the launch I have received LOTS of feedback, both positive and constructive in letting me know what I’ve missed.  I’m very happy to take it all on and pour it into a 2023 version that will include the Abbotsford/Richmond area, and will ultimately switch up the orientation to landscape, no doubt there’ll be some challenges that will arise from that one, but that will be a story for another blog post I’m sure.