Wonderground Map

The Wonderground Map was a 1914 London Underground map designed by MacDonald Gill and commissioned for the underground by Frank Pick, Commercial Manager of the then-Underground Electric Railways Company of London.

Pick deliberately decided to commission a map which gave the company, as the BBC put it, a "stronger brand" as part of a simultaneous exercise in improving hygiene, punctuality,[2] and image (if only, it has been suggested, by distracting the commuters from their travelling conditions).

[1] As part of the latter, he also commissioned the "iconic" Johnston typeface for signs and lettering at the same time.

[2] Indeed, MacDonald's older brother, Eric Gill, worked with Johnston in creating his typeface.

[3] His Wonderland map has been described as a "mixture of cartoon, fantasy, and topological accuracy" and became "an instant hit with the travelling public"; using solely primary colours, London appears as a medieval town in a medieval map (for instance, using a "decorative cursive script and dotting chivalric shields" around the edge),[1] with contemporary aspects interspersed, combined with satirical commentary on "accent, class and social mobility [that] were major preoccupations of 1914 London".