Chicago, IL

Geographic Chicago ‘L’ Transit Map in the Style of the New York City Subway Map

This map presents the Chicago ‘L’ using a geographically based layout inspired by the New York City Subway map tradition, preserving real-world distances, neighborhood relationships, and major geographic features.

Unlike schematic or fully diagrammatic transit maps, this design closely follows Chicago’s actual street grid, shoreline, and branch alignments, providing clear spatial context alongside transit information. Lines and stations are shown in their true geographic positions to illustrate how the system fits within the city itself.

A detailed Loop inset is included to clarify the dense downtown network while maintaining continuity with the broader geographic layout. The result combines geographic accuracy with a recognizable East Coast transit map aesthetic, adapted specifically for Chicago’s rapid transit system.

In the Style of the 1970s Vignelli New York City Subway Map

In August 1972, a radically new New York City subway map designed by Massimo Vignelli was introduced systemwide. The map became a landmark of modernist information design, emphasizing clarity, color, and structure over geographic accuracy. While some riders criticized its abstract approach, the design has since been widely recognized as one of the most influential transit maps ever produced. Vignelli himself regarded it as one of his finest works.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original design interpretation inspired by the visual language of the 1970s Vignelli subway map, applying its bold color blocks, simplified geometry, and schematic organization to Chicago’s rapid transit system. The result explores how Chicago’s network might appear when expressed through a classic modernist transit map aesthetic.

In the Style of the 1979 to Early-2000s New York City Subway Map

Beginning in 1979, the New York City Subway adopted a new map style that replaced the earlier abstract design with a layout that blended schematic clarity and recognizable geography. This approach combined simplified line geometry with familiar spatial relationships, helping riders orient themselves while maintaining visual order across a complex system.

While the map did not follow true geography exactly, its layout was carefully and extensively adjusted to improve legibility in dense areas and balance abstraction with geographic context. Design development during this period was strongly influenced by graphic designer Nobu Siraisi, whose work helped define the visual language of New York City subway maps from the late 1970s through the early 2000s.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original, geographically based design inspired by the 1979–early-2000s New York City Subway map tradition, applying its hybrid schematic–geographic style to Chicago’s rapid transit system while preserving clear spatial relationships.

In the Style of a Blended 1979–Era and 1940s New York City Subway Map Design

This map explores a hybrid design approach inspired by two distinct eras of New York City subway cartography: the geographically influenced subway maps introduced in 1979 and the richly detailed Hagstrom subway maps of the 1940s. Together, these styles combine clear route structure with a stronger sense of place and visual character.

The resulting design balances modern transit-map legibility with mid-century cartographic sensibilities, blending simplified geometry, geographic cues, and historical layout influences into a single cohesive presentation.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original, geographically based design inspired by blended New York City subway map traditions, reinterpreting these historical design languages to present Chicago’s rapid transit system in a fresh and visually distinctive way.

In the Style of the 1967 New York City Subway Chrystie Street Connection Map

In 1967, the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection in Lower Manhattan brought together two previously separate subway divisions, the BMT and the IND, resulting in major service reroutes and operational changes. To explain these changes, a special brochure was produced featuring a distinctive diagrammatic map design focused on clarity rather than geography.

This map style emphasized routing logic, line relationships, and service changes, using simplified geometry to communicate a complex reorganization of the system in a compact and easily understood format.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original diagrammatic design inspired by the 1967 Chrystie Street Connection map, applying its clear, schematic visual language to Chicago’s rapid transit network to explore how similar service changes might be communicated through design.

In the Style of the 1967–1971 Raleigh D’Adamo–Designed New York City Subway Maps

Between 1967 and 1971, graphic designer Raleigh D’Adamo developed a series of New York City subway maps that emphasized diagrammatic clarity, simplified geometry, and strong color differentiation. These maps focused on routing logic and line relationships rather than geographic accuracy, making complex service patterns easier to understand at a glance.

D’Adamo’s designs represent an important transitional period in subway map design, bridging earlier schematic approaches with later systemwide mapping styles.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original diagrammatic design inspired by the 1967–1971 Raleigh D’Adamo New York City subway map tradition, applying its clear, schematic visual language to Chicago’s rapid transit system as a design exploration.

In the Style of the 1970s New York Telephone Company–Designed New York City Subway Map

During the 1970s, the New York Telephone Company produced a series of New York City subway maps for inclusion in telephone directories. These maps used a highly diagrammatic design, prioritizing clear routing, simplified geometry, and legibility over geographic accuracy to help riders navigate the system efficiently.

This design approach resulted in a compact, information-forward map style that became widely familiar to New Yorkers through everyday use in phone books.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original diagrammatic design inspired by the 1970s New York Telephone Company subway map tradition, reinterpreting its schematic visual language for Chicago’s rapid transit system.

Three versions of this map are presented:

In the Style of the Modern Los Angeles Metro Transit Map

The modern Los Angeles Metro transit map uses a clear, diagrammatic design that emphasizes legibility, color separation, and simplified geometry. This contemporary style focuses on making a large and complex rail system easy to understand at a glance, prioritizing route clarity over geographic precision.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original diagrammatic design inspired by the modern Los Angeles Metro map tradition, applying its clean visual language and streamlined layout principles to Chicago’s rapid transit system as a design exploration.

In the Style of the Late-1980s Chicago ‘L’ Car Card Map by Alan Grady

In the late 1980s, graphic designer Alan Grady created a distinctive diagrammatic Chicago ‘L’ map that appeared as a car card above interior train doors. Designed for quick reading while in motion, the map emphasized clear routing, simplified geometry, and compact presentation, making it especially effective in the constrained space of a rail car.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original diagrammatic design inspired by the late-1980s car card map tradition, adapting the visual language and layout principles of Alan Grady’s design for a contemporary interpretation. The historical map is shown for reference, while the recreated design omits logos, phone numbers, and operational branding to focus purely on form and structure.

In the Style of New York Commuter Rail Maps

This map presents the Metra rail network using a geographically based layout inspired by New York–area commuter rail map traditions, which depict regional rail services operating across the New York metropolitan and Connecticut. The design emphasizes real-world geography, branch structure, and service extents to clearly show how a large regional rail system fits within its surrounding landscape.

This is an original geographic rail map design by Michael Calcagno, applying the visual language of Northeast commuter rail mapping to Chicago’s regional rail network as a design exploration.

A higher-resolution JPG version of this map is available for download here 

In the Style of the Modern Washington, DC Metrorail Map

The modern Washington, DC Metrorail map uses a clear, highly diagrammatic design that emphasizes simplified geometry, strong color separation, and legibility across a complex regional system. This visual language, often associated with Lance Wyman’s design influence, prioritizes route clarity and intuitive navigation over geographic precision.

This Chicago ‘L’ map is an original diagrammatic design inspired by the modern Washington, DC Metrorail map tradition, applying its clean, structured aesthetic to Chicago’s rapid transit system as a design exploration.

A high-resolution JPG version of this map is available for download here
Prints of this map are also available for purchase.

Chicago’s Current ‘L’ System in the Style of Maxwell Roberts’ 1951 Hagstrom-Inspired New York City Subway Map

Inspired by Maxwell Roberts’ schematic reinterpretation of the 1951 Hagstrom New York City subway map, this design explores how the same structured, symmetrical approach might translate to today’s Chicago ‘L’.

Rather than applying a purely retro aesthetic, this map draws from Roberts’ underlying design philosophy: respecting the city’s natural layout while emphasizing clarity, flow, and legibility. Geographic cues and topography are referenced loosely, allowing line rhythm and geometry to guide the overall form, much as Roberts did in his New York work.

The result evokes a mid-20th-century transit map aesthetic while depicting the Chicago ‘L’ as it operates today. It is part homage, part design experiment, and fully grounded in Chicago’s network.

Roberts famously noted that Chicago’s grid presents unique challenges for schematic mapping, particularly in the Loop. While most of the system aligns well within this structure, a small number of stations resist compression without distorting the geometry. For this design, the full Loop is retained within the main map rather than isolated in an inset, making the exercise both challenging and rewarding.

A high-resolution JPG version of this map is available for download (updated May 17, 2025).
Prints of this map are available in a 20×30-inch format.

Chicago, Curved - A modern rail map inspired by Chicago’s 1937 “fish-eye” transit map

This map reimagines one of Chicago’s most iconic transit visuals, the 1937 curved “fish-eye” map originally published during the early rapid transit era. The distinctive arched perspective, circular framing, and illustrative geography of the original design are preserved, while the rail network itself has been fully updated to reflect current Chicago ‘L’ service patterns, including all eight lines.

The map retains the dramatic visual character of the historic design while improving clarity, color balance, and legibility for modern viewing. It presents a contemporary interpretation rooted in Chicago’s transit history, combining a classic cartographic style with an up-to-date system layout.

A high-resolution JPG version of this map is available for download.
Square poster prints are available in multiple sizes. Click here.

An Isometric Take on the Chicago ‘L’

For my first isometric transit map, I chose the Hagstrom/Maxwell Roberts diagrammatic style as the foundation—clean, geometric, and perfectly suited for dimensional reimagining. The diagram's clarity made it ideal for building something playful yet grounded in real-world structure.

From there, I added visual depth: elevated pillars to highlight the iconic ‘L’, tunnel portals where lines dip underground, bridges crossing the river, and embankments that anchor the system to the city’s landscape. These elements aren’t just artistic touches — they reflect the layered, lived-in feel of Chicago’s transit infrastructure.

And just for fun? Look closely at Cicero Green Line station — you’ll spot a lone photographer aiming eastward, camera ready. Geeking out over the beauty of trains, with the backdrop of the iconic Chicago skyline in the distance.

Download high-res JPG map (6/23/25)

To purchase a 30"x20" poster, click here

Chicago ‘L’ Map in the Style of New York-Area Commuter Rail Map

What if Chicago’s rapid transit system were presented using the visual language commonly associated with New York–area commuter rail maps? This map applies a geographically based layout, bold trunk-line colors, and clear branch structure to Chicago’s rail network, emphasizing readability across the entire system.

Transfer stations are clearly defined, line colors follow logical branching, and real-world geography is favored over schematic distortion. The result offers a familiar yet refreshed perspective on Chicago’s rail system, combining regional commuter rail design principles with the scale and density of the ‘L’.

A high-resolution JPG version of this map is available for download (7/15/25).
Poster prints are available in a 30 x 20-inch format.

Today’s Chicago ‘L’ Reimagined in the Style of a 1930 Chicago Rapid Transit Map

This map presents Chicago’s current rapid transit system using the visual language and design conventions of the early 1930s. The style emphasizes simplicity, elegance, and a restrained retro aesthetic inspired by prewar Chicago transit maps.

Although the map reflects today’s Chicago ‘L’ network, line naming, coloring, and presentation follow historical practice rather than modern service branding. Routes such as the Skokie branch are included, but are depicted according to period conventions. The Red and Blue subway routes are treated as separate lines, and additional services are shown in gray to represent Loop operations, consistent with design logic of the era.

The result is a diagrammatic interpretation that applies early twentieth-century transit design principles to a modern system, offering a historical lens through which to view today’s Chicago ‘L’.

A high-res JPG version of this map is available for download (9/15/2025)

Poster prints are available in a 20 by 30 inch format, click here

Chicago “L” System Map in 1924 IRT Style

This map presents the current Chicago “L” system reimagined in the style of a 1924 Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) New York City subway map.

Inspired by early 20th century transit cartography, this design applies the visual language of historic IRT maps to today’s Chicago rail network. The goal was to explore how a modern system would appear using the drafting techniques, typography, and layout conventions of that era.

The map reflects present-day service while maintaining a vintage aesthetic, blending historical design with contemporary transit geography.

A high-res JPG version of this map is available for download 

Poster prints are available in a 20 by 30 inch format, here

©2026, Calcagno Maps Company