Interested in the subway maps that you see when riding public transit? Wondering how different cities visualize their lines? Wonder no more. A cruise around the web has led me to this collection of subway maps from around the country. It even includes links to some international maps as well. Really interesting stuff when thinking about visualizing information and creating abstract meaning.

The above listing doesn't include the most famous map of all—the London Underground map. (this site takes awhile to load because the page has 36 images of London Underground maps over the last 100 years all on one page—worth the wait though.) Scroll down to 1933 and you see the famous map by Harry Beck that re-adjusts all the lines and creates a balanced and proportional information design out of the map information. No longer bound by reality of the geography, this map is a masterpiece of information design and set the standard for all subway / transit maps that came after.

Every cover of Esquire Magazine from 1933 to the most current issue.

The first several years have weird claymation looking type figures as illustrations on the covers. Reminds me of the 1960's classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and that other one that had the Heat Meiser in it.

According to the site these are:

The Esky Years
These are the year's when Esquire's cover was dominated by our mascot, Esky, a mischievous little man whose interests ranged from mountain-climbing to soldiering to — on one special occasion — trying to climb into Elizabeth Taylor's cleavage.

Weird. But still —overall it's an interesting collection that chronicles time through design trends and style. There's even an aalphabetical subject index to peruse if you don't feel like trudging through 70 years of covers.