Scandal!
So I was catching up on the news from back home today when I noticed this story. The article alleges that a Jamie Carroll, national director of the Liberal Party, made some inappropriate remarks about the hiring policies of the party. “Jamie Carroll,” I thought to myself, “that name sounds familiar…” and then I remembered – I went to school with a Jamie Carroll. And he was big into politics too! Could it be the same one?
Sure enough, after five minutes of poking around on the web I found an article from King’s College, noting his appointment and confirming his background. Kind of strange having lost touch with someone for 10 years and then finding them on the front page of the national newspaper for all the wrong reasons.
Typography on the Toronto Tube
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but it’s been a busy summer, what with getting married (!), moving back to London and all. We’re enjoying London much more this time around as we now live in a slightly calmer part of town. But regardless of where you are, the Tube is always a part of your day.
One great thing about the London Underground is its excellent typography and graphic design. However the advantages of the clean Beck maps and Johnson font (not Gill Sans – compare the circle i-dot with Johnson’s quirkier diamond-shape) are something that I’ve always taken for granted. I figured it was just one of those things transit authorities had to get right. And other metro systems that I’ve visited recently, e.g. in Barcelona and Tokyo, suggested that while there is certainly variation between designs, generally subway systems have clear and consistent signage.
Suffice to say, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Toronto. This is a long article, but an absolutely fascinating account of how the Toronto Transit Commission has seemingly done everything possible to prevent a consistent and comprehensible design being implemented. If you only have a few minutes, scroll through the pictures to see how bad Tube signage can be. But if you dig in a bit more, you’ll find some great quotes like this:
What’s really lacking really hit home to me when I was [at Sheppard station] in a wheelchair in 2005 unexpectedly – I didn’t know how to navigate out of the station. There are all of these elevators, well, which one do I take to get out of the station? They have a sign that tells you where you are and what’s upstairs, but you don’t have a little visual of the station. I was going to North York General Hospital and it took me a half hour to get out of the station…. [I] finally made my way out after half an hour. But I wasn’t very strong, I’d lost a lot of weight after a couple operations. So that was a real striking moment.
And then a few months later I was going to a New Year’s Eve party and my friends were picking me up at the corner and it took me 15 minutes to get out with a walker. I couldn’t find an exit that would let me get out with a walker.
This, from the man who actually oversaw the design of said Sheppard signs!
Anyway great reading and next time I take the TTC, I might just tie a piece of string to a lamp-post outside so at least I can get out again.