Friends of the Rail Forum

London Underground By Design by Mark Ovenden

Celebrating 150 years of the London Underground, this illustrated book charts the evolution of architecture, branding, typeface, map design, interior and textile styles, posters, signage and graphic design and how these came together to shape the Underground's identity. It also takes in the people behind those things, from the designers and architects to the illustrators and textile designers...

I have three other books by Mark Ovenden. "Paris Underground", "Transit Maps of the World" and "Railway maps of the World". He is an excellent railway art and mapping historian. His books are well-illustrated, informative and seek to explore the less conventional aspects of their subjects. Worth collecting if you like less conventional railway books away from the usual pictures of trains, locos and engineering detail.

There's a good review of this book in the Grauniad:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/fe ... den-review?

This book does ample justice to a network that – overcrowded and overpriced though it may currently be – is "a glorious palimpsest of design".

hey ho - another one for the library.

I am going to order one from Amazon - anyone else want to come in? It reduces the postage a little bit.