Helvetica and the New York City Subway System: The True (Maybe) Story

As this is a Christmas present I cannot give an honest review, but I'm sure the person receiving this book will love it and get a lot of pleasure reading it. Many thanks

Nulla di particolare, pensavo meglio. Speravo fosse il manuale ufficiale della subway di nyc. peccato, ci speravo proprio in una sua ristampa.

A must have for designers. If you deal with graphics, architecture, or signage you need this book. I will add this doesn’t need to be the only Helvetica book you have but I would add it to your collection.

Most books about the subway, deal with the history of the system and how it was built. This book focuses on something most of us neglect when we are down in the subway, its signs and placards. I discovered through this book that they have a history in itself that is as intriguing as its building. Must read for subway history buffs and graphic artists.

Most often, books on design, present a lovely completed vision of the final product with all their flaws Photoshopped away like a centerfold image. Those of us who have tilted at windmills know the real story behind working with the quagmire of complex institutions. Paul Shaw has forsaken the "healing tool" in favor of a look at the design process, blemishes and all. He shows us battles lost as well as won. The New York Subway system did not begin life as a well orchestrated plan that was delivered as composed with a single downbeat. There were numerous conflagrations among the many involved factions from planners, designers, local governments, businesses, and unions. What we see today on a subway platform in NYC is a semi-pealed onion revealing layers of history. Paul makes a fine story of the toils and shows images from all facets of the century-long project still in progress. He jokingly adds "maybe" after True Story in the subtitle but we all know such a story could not be invented. The book is a combination lesson in history, sociology, commerce, and 100 year turf-wars, the stuff real design projects are made of. My only small quibble with the book is that the layout can be a bit confusing to follow sometimes. This may be because there are so many intriguing illustrations and footnotes that you forget where you were reading. This is hardly a problem though, rereading is a pleasant task and you find things you never knew were there--kind of like repeated trips on the New York subway. By all means, take it for a ride or two.