Whether you’re a graphic designer, a transport professional or just a frustrated commuter living in Brussels, you must have a look at the work of British psychologist and cartographer Max Roberts. A couple of weeks ago Ezelstad published his ingenious redesign of the Brussels public transport map. It created quite a buzz on social media, because of the readability of the concentric design.

In 1933, Henry Beck famously reconfigured the London Underground map as a diagram, using only horizontal, vertical, and 45º diagonal lines with tightly radiused corners. Londoners loved the design, and this method has become an international standard. However, with around 200 stations, Beck’s early success was for a relatively simple network and, today, designers worldwide struggle to capture his original clarity, simplicity, and coherence. `

In his lecture, Max Roberts will highlight the criteria for effective schematic map design, and explore whether breaking traditional rules might help us better achieve them. Every transport network is different, each may work best with a different solution. The Brussels map will be a central case in his presentation.