Austin Shaw

I love illustrations. And I love illustrations that have a certain vintage quality to them. So it is not surprising that I was really excited when I stumbled across Austin Shaw's work, seen here (taken from his website):


From AmateurIllustrator.com, Austin Shaw says "I liked figure drawing and intaglio etching and printmaking. I also liked making collages out of paper and ink... I also believe that 4 years of figure drawing with charcoal and hours in the printmaking studio has given me a strong tactile sensibility. Working with my hands and having the fundamental skills of composition, color, and drawing has been invaluable to me as a commercial artist."

"I also look at art and design books for inspiration. There is often some preparation of elements – drawings, photos, textures, etc. I rough out the general composition of a piece first. I try to make each piece as richly textured in layers and depth as possible. Once things start balancing out I try to do something unexpected, try to surprise myself. That is usually the part I enjoy the most."


It is amazing how he portrayed the spirit of jazz music in his illustrations. This ability to inject your own perspective into the essence of the subject at hand is, I think, what makes illustrators's work stand out from many other forms of visual arts. It has imagination and personality. Do check out his work.

Rinko Kawauchi

I am not much of a photographer, but I have grown to really appreciate the art as it really allows you to capture a slice of history. Photographers always have a really unique vision, be it street, portrait, nature of any other subjects. They always come from different angles even when photographing the same subject: angles that really make you think about their work, and perhaps expand your horizon through their lenses. This was really the case when I came across Rinko Kawauchi's work in the photography aisle of a local bookstore.

From designboom, "Kawauchi's themes of family, human interaction with nature and the cycle of life are photographed in pastel colours. Her work reveals exquisite delicacy, achieved through sensate compositions, a careful attention to texture and the cultivation of a beautifully clear, clean, often whitish light. She interweaves sensitized ways of perceiving the world around her, with the fleeting conflations of forms that make you wonder how one photographer mangaged to be present, attuned and ready to photograph so many pungent observations."

Take a look at her work (images grabbed from designboom and pingmag):


Kawauchi also said that "for a photographer, it's a necessity that you can shoot stuff magically. Accidents are necessary, but after I take a photograph, it is not all done. I continue to work on it." Besides editing her work, she believes that presentation is necessary to capture the her ideas. Thus, she would at times present her work alongside her own haiku poetry.

From pingmag, "People often say that I have a child’s eye. For example, I stare at ants gathering around sugar, or when I seek shelter from the rain, I gaze upon snails. These are things which you often do when you are a child... I prefer listening to the small voices in our world, those which whisper... [and] my eyes naturally focus on small things..."


Personally, I think her work captures a level of intimacy that is often lost in our blaring world of computers, traffic jams and cellphones. When I first saw the above picture, I could almost hear the sound of the pod bursting - the gentle flopping sounds of, perhaps, petals unfolding from its fetal position to meet the gaze of the casual on-looker. Through her lense though, I was not that casual on-looker...

Web Trend Map 2007

I have never really thought of the web as a giant city and sites as destinations, or train stations for that matter. But it certainly makes for a fascinating idea, an idea that Information Architects Japan developed into a map resembling, and indeed based on, the Tokyo Metro Map. Here is a screenshot of it taken from their website:


They have divided popular sites into several categories, all of which form the various coloured lines, or in this case, tracks. If you follow the 'news' line, you will stop along news sites, much like stopping at train stations. It is also peppered with humour, as an excerpt of their notes below show:

"Google has moved from Shibuya, a humming place for young people, to Shinjuku, a suspicious, messy, Yakuza-controlled, but still a pretty cool place to hang out (Golden Gaya)... Yahoo is in Ueno, a nice place but nothing going on there... Wikipedia now is in Shimbashi, the place for the square and hard-headed Salaryman, like the Wikipedia watchdogs..."

"Last but not least we have added a Web generation number (is it web 1.0? or Web 2.0, is it a corn or is it a nut?). I don’t want to spoil all of the little things in there, but please note that there are some websites that are web 1.5, some are 2.5 and some that are 0.5. This is not a mistake. Web 2.5 is what facebook is up to… Web 0.5 is what Jakob Nielsen is still doing. The Generation number is not necessarily qualifying, but it’s not surprising that websites that do well are usually above 1.0; some of them (like eBay and Wikipedia) were 2.0. long before the term was coined."


This is fun stuff to pore over. They have even generously offered the map for download, but you can also choose to purchase it.

Eclipse 500 Jet

Although I have never been inside a cockpit in my life, I have seen enough depictions of them to know that there are enough dials and meters to require me to carry around a legend with proper annotations for a while before all that becomes second nature - if I were to ever learn about aviation. Well, today, I learnt that this interface could very well be changing:

From The industrial Designers Society of America, the design team for Eclipse 500 "was tasked with developing a rational, pilot-friendly instrument panel that also blends with the overall design vision for the jet. After extensive research, the team achieved a layout for the instrument panel that is more intuitive, less cluttered, less fatiguing and more motion efficient. In addition, the panel evokes the cool austerity of high-tech jet aircraft with a jet-fighter gray background, metal trim that highlights the technology, and white-lining control groups."


From Aerospace Technology, "the multifunction display unit provides control for the fuel, electrical, engines, environmental control, de-icing, lighting and pressurisation systems. It is equipped with embedded backup instrumentation and both the primary flight displays and multifunction display have reversionary modes to allow the transfer of information to the other displays."

Unfortunately, since my knowledge of aviation is close to none, I cannot tell you if this system is particularly intuitive, but it is obvious that the design team placed a heavy focus on user experience. Now if only someone can come up with a user-friendly interface for that darn microwave...

(all images in this post are from Aerospace Technology)

Adanac

From yesterday's Australian icons, we move on to Canadian icons today. Nothing spells more Canadian than the North American Beaver - the national animal of Canada, the moose, the iconic Royal Canadian Mounted Police uniforms, and of course, the maple leaf on our flag. In conjunction with Canada Day, which happened early this month, many of the these symbols, plus a bevy of other distinctly Canadian ones, were celebrated by Vancouver company 10four Designs in the form of fonts. The following is a screenshot taken from the Adanac website:


From this article, "Adanac [which is really Canada spelt backwards] includes a full alphabet of pictographs that represent each upper and lower case character and number, 62 icons in total. Lower case 'j' is for jolly jumper. Upper case 'W' is a miniature William Shatner. [10four co-principal Matt Heximer said that they are] proudly Canadian... so it seemed like a natural fit to find some obscure Canadiana and design a font around that.


"Heximer [said] the challenge was the make the icons, which he describe[d] as 'little logos for Canada', simple enough to reproduce at very small sizes as a black and white graphic." He also added that "[they] don’t take [themselves] too seriously [and] wanted it to be fun to reflect a bit of [their] personality as well."


I sure think they succeeded in bringing a little bit of Canada to the world! And they are giving away the truetype font for free.

Qantas Logo

Along with the koala bear, the wombat, the platypus, the echidna, the emu and the kookaburra, the kangaroo is very much an Australian icon. In fact, the kangaroo is one of the two fauna featured on the Coat of Arms of Australia. It is also used by Qantas in their very identifiable branding. Recently, however, there were talks of culling this elegant creature off the branding. Some news reporters have even gleefully termed the event as roadkill. But, it turns out, the logo is merely tweaked.

Here is a picture of the old (left) and new (right) logo:


From this article, Qantas Executive General Manager John Borghetti said that "[t]his move... reflects the changing structure of our new aircraft, for example the shape of our new kangaroo is a great fit for the tail of the A380 and other new generation aircraft." The change in logo was needed to accommodate a new carbon-fibre panel on the 450-seat Airbus A380, with some parts that cannot be painted at all. It will take six years to repaint all Qantas's 188 aircraft. Borghetti also added that "[if they] had to have overlaid the old logo, it would have chopped off the feet of our kangaroo."

So how did design agency Hulsbosch approach the revamp? From a Qantas newsrelease, Hans Hulsbosch said "[t]he Qantas logo is one of the most recognised symbols of Australia in the world, with a strength that has been built over many years. We took great care to carry this legacy into the new design, but also gave it a very contemporary flavour with more organic, flowing lines, and a typeface created exclusively for Qantas that is crafted to match the curves of the kangaroo... The result is a look that retains Qantas' long association with the qualities of Australia - natural, free-spirited and confident - but that complements the ultra modern look of the new aircraft, onboard product and interiors."

I do think the new logo looks really good on the tail, as this Channel Seven photograph shows:


However, when a symbol comes to represent a society as a whole, it becomes immortalised - to the point where modifying it creates huge backlash. From theage, Brandmatters managing director Paul Nelson remarked that "[the logo is] grounded and very heavy... Because of the new tail they've put on that kangaroo, it seems a lot more squat and not as sleek as the old logo... What we had previously was a really light and elegant and flying kangaroo. I'm not sure whether this version could actually take off."

What do you think?

R.E.A.C.H.

I like trees. I have always liked them. They all seem to have this sage, majestic presence - not unlike Tolkien's Ents. This is especially true of the bigger trees. Yet, around where I live, I see them all being cleared for human habitation. It saddens me to see cookie-cutter houses erected in mere days taking over those wonderful trees - trees that spent the past few decades growing. Coupled with coverage of the hotly debated global warming issues, this tree-cutting business has hit me doubly hard. So, it is not surprising that this ad I came across, created by DDB for Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, struck a chord me (click on the picture to view the details):


From its website, "R.E.A.C.H. is a community-based organisation established in 2001 for the preservation, restoration and maintenance of Cameron Highlands as an environmentally sustainable agriculture and hill resort within a permanent nature reserve, which is based in the longest mountain range in Peninsular Malaysia."

I have been to Cameron Highlands before. I remember the air up there was a refreshing change from the smog of the cities. Trees seemed greener, butterflies seemed more colourful, mother nature seemed happier. I know the trees around my house are lonely, butterflies do not seem to come by at all, and mother nature seems to be throwing temper tantrums, not without merit...

Dose

Vancouver has a few free newspapers in circulation throughout the city. The same goes for Toronto and several other major Canadian cities. Of the three major ones that I know of, Dose takes a more unique stance:

From GDC, Dose is "[a] free, daily paper, more similar in content to a magazine... [caters] to a younger readership (age 18–34) with similar interest in gossip and current events. The challenge was to not only create a name for the company, but a logo and a brand built from the name. A list of names quickly reduced to a list of five, then settled upon Dose - playing off the idea of 'daily dose'. Dose offers both intellectual and pop-culture content presented in terms of manageable content size, with sporadic bits of facts and other trivia. The logo was a natural: the capital D flipped horizontally combines to create a small capsule. The brand is direct, simple and... painless."


This logo was designed by rethink in Vancouver.

On my daily commute to work, I have also noticed that Dose publications have one of the most striking covers among the wall of papers to choose from, free and otherwise. It always manages to capture the essence of the headliner of the day with an in-your-face attitude, one that certainly speaks to my generation, I think. Here are some of the past covers, designed by Jaspal Riyait:

Klaus Haapaniemi

Technological advancements have allowed us to venture far beyond our cultures and traditions to explore the beauty of others in foreign lands. Coming from an Asian background, I clutch fervently with me my customs, foods, and other aspects common in my culture so as to keep a little piece of my heritage and identity intact. Exposed to Asian art all my life, I have tried to, on the (very rare) occasion when opportunity knocks on my door, fuse a few elements of it into my design. I sincerely think that, when done just right (not forecefully incorporated and contrived), the results reveal just how wonderfully varied the human race is. While I do not think I have ever succeeded, I did find one person who is extremely adept at it I think - Klaus Haapaniemi. Here are a few pictures of his work, all from his website:


From StyleSkilling,"Haapaniemi is probably best known for [work] inspired by folk art from his homeland of Finland and also of Russia, as well as cartoons from Eastern Europe. He currently lives in London, an international city where constant immersion in multiple layers of history and culture results in an endless, fluid synthesis of impressions."


From PingMag, "I [seek]... inspiration from these old toys, some of them are quite strange, they feel like rubber but are ‘furry’ at the same time. A lot of them I’ve found in Russia when I have visited, I also really like the old Christmas decorations you can find there. Somehow they are quite similar to the kind of character toys you find in Japan - cute, but a bit weird or peculiar." Of his Finnish background and its influence on his work, he says "Eastern Europe and Finland are really connected... so much of the culture is based on Russia."


From StyleSkilling,"An Asian and especially Japanese audience is one to whom I would like to communicate more through my works - whether it’s in a way of animation or some other art-form, I’m not sure. I’m just [now] launching two big exhibitions in Korea simultaneously, where they are publishing a book of my work, too... [I] would like to see the characters he conceives through illustration come to life. Nego Monogatari - The Tale of Nego - is inspired by Japanese themes and history, as filtered through [my]... style."

Popup Balcony

Canada's real estate market is red hot. Yet, with every housing scheme that springs up, interior and exterior architecture suffers. The shape of houses look more and more generic (cookie-cutter homes being more cost-effective to build, and therefore, higher ROI), with marketing buzzwords like 'open plan living' to disguise the lack of space and the need to custom fit every piece of furniture to live even remotely comfortably. Worst of all, however, I see less and less balconies and porches built into the design. If they are, the space accommodates, at best, two toes. How is one to enjoy the beautiful Vancouver sunshine and, if you are lucky, the sweetly salty sea breeze?

Hofman Dujardin have the answer. From a press release, "The dynamic balcony offers a solution for compact apartments in dense urban areas. By transforming the elevation into a horizontal surface an outdoor terrace is added to an apartment."

Here are some screenshots of how it works:


"With one push on a button the balcony opens smoothly within 15 seconds. On the few square meters which are generated two persons can enjoy breakfast in the open air. Although the construction is extremely solid, the balcony looks elegant and transparent."

Smartly done I say!

Designing with Colour

When designing user interfaces, I always start off with wireframes. Black and white, and grey, but never any colour. Colour is only applied later, albeit rather stingily, once the structure is set. I find that, when I design something other than user interfaces, I also subconsciously start off with only black and white. Perhaps it is the power of stark contrast, but I find my best (or at least my favourite) work is almost always done in these two colours, or maybe with a little bit of grey. I have wondered for a long time how other designers start off their projects. How do you start it off? And how much is colour used in the final product?

Note (July 19th): This post was intended to raise a question. I will answer this question with a brief walkthrough, screenshots and final product over this coming weekend. Thank you Tara for linking to me.

Mit Händen sehen

With my main canvas as the computer screen, I am always wondering about accessibility. I am filled with empathy when I see people with a variety of disabilities trying their very best to work around their physical disadvantages to use the computer like everyone else. Not enough has been done to include the needs of these people in every technological advancement that we make. I do own up that I myself do not study accessibility issues enough even though it sits lodged in the back of my head constantly. It is, therefore, very refreshing to see design that takes into account the needs of these people, as the following German stamp designed by Christof Gassner, taken from Red Dot, shows:


From Red Dot, "The special issue stamp entitled "Mit Händen sehen" (Seeing with hands) makes the significance the sense of touch has for blind people tangible also for those who can see. This is achieved by com-bining the senses of vision and touch in the design and implementing it in different levels of perception on the large-sized stamp: For blind people the title "Mit Händen sehen" as well as the number "55" for the price are embossed in Braille. According to the field of vision of people with impaired vision the "55" is presented a second time, running over more than half of the stamp like a light shadow. People with healthy vision will also see the small, unobtrusive writing which features the number "55" for the third time as well as the two anniversaries "200 Jahre Blindenschule Berlin" (200th Anniversary Berlin School for the Blind) and "150 Jahre Stiftung Nikolauspflege" (150th Anniversary Nikolauspflege Foundation), which are the stamp's subject matter and the reason for its issue. In contrast to often very multi-coloured stamps, the elegant special issue stamp emphasises its subject by not using colourful elements."

Experimental Typography

Because I was enrolled in Chinese classes all through primary and secondary school, I had to practice Chinese calligraphy. This art form required unfailing dedication and extreme attention to detail. Every muscle and joint in your fingers and hands have to be orchestrated to execute a stroke that would 'complete the picture'. A wrong stroke would mean you have to start over again because the ink is permanent. I emphasise the word 'wrong' because that was how I was taught at school. There were, in fact, outlines that we simply have to fill to get the 'correct' shape and structure of a word. Experimentation was not not really encouraged, at least not until much later, after the foundation was set. Yet, this was the element that kept me energised, at least when I was at home and not under the watchful eye of my calligraphy teacher. Anyway, this is the reason I find Oded Ezer's work to be highly inspiring when I stumbled across it. Take a look at the following screenshots from PingMag of his work:


From PingMag, "My first purpose is to have fun. Experimenting for me means playing a game as seriously as a six-year-old boy would. However, I feel that when I really succeed in making something fun, I often manage to surprise myself with something new and unexpected. The hidden purpose of it all is to find fresh ideas for treating typography, words and single letters.... A letter is something that came up from culture, it is an artificial sign for something which has a meaning and long history behind it. What I’m trying to do is to understand this process of creating and re-shaping this cultural element."

His work also goes beyond that of print, as the following project called Biotypography shows:


"When I saw an ant on the floor of my studio, I started to imagine what would happen if this was a creature half ant and half letter. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if nature had invented letters? And then maybe different letter-ants could gather, create words and communicate with us!? I kept on fantasizing and loved the idea so much that I immediately had to do something with it - and so I did! The initial sketches were ideas only, but they changed and developed when they became real. I hoped to create live, almost cinematic situations where these typo creatures “act” and “behave”. The most difficult thing while working on the project was the “balance” issue: where to draw the line between the insect and the letter."

Loom Chair

I never could understand the creation of leather chairs. Sitting in a leather-clad chair in the summer causes extreme heat (due to lack of ventilation) in the nether regions; sitting in one in the winter causes extreme cringing (and perhaps even frost bite) until it warms up to your body temperature. So, not surprisingly, I thought leather-bound chairs were designed purely for visual purposes, and not so much for function. This is the case of Marcel Breuer's Wassily Chair. No doubt, it is quite the engineering feat, not to mention a thing of real beauty, but I never felt comfortable sitting in one.

However, Franco Poli has solved this problem. Take a look at the following screenshot of the Loom Chair from Core77 made of stretched cowhide:


From Selector, "[a] laser-guided, high-frequency machine is used to accurately cut the expansion slits at the correct locations and angles into a thick sheet of coach-hide leather. This in turn, creates a new contoured surface that resembles a net. Now for the first time, leather can be shaped into a three-dimensional recessed area, to have the ergonomic and ventilation properties that would normally be associated with fabrics. The net of coach-hide [can hold 350kgs without stretching and] can adapt to the shape of the human body with controlled elasticity and provide visual transparency."


For anyone in Australia, Matteograssi has an upcoming product launch in Sydney which will feature this along with a few other products.

Helvetica Documentary

I cannot recall watching a documentary recently that does not investigate global warming, war and terrorism, guns as means of self protection, or health detriments from feeding solely on fast food. While these are certainly issues to heed, I would like to have some sweet sorbet with my steak. So here is documentary that highlights something a little less serious, yet has nonetheless played a significant role culturally.

From the official website, "Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type."

Here are a few stills also sourced from the website:


From this article, Gary Hustwit - the filmmaker - said that "the sheer pervasiveness of helvetica makes it every bit as worthy of screen treatment as anything else in the world... Graphic design is as popular in Thailand as it is in Turkey as it is in the UK or New Zealand or wherever. Even the countries that don't use the Latin alphabet are interested in the film. Non-designers come out of it asking how graphic designers get so worked up about fonts... [but] the other thing is that when they walk outside, they look around and they start to really notice all the type that's in their environment."


From the same article, Hustwit also discloses his conception of the documentary. "I was walking around the city and looking at people interacting with type and looking at all the words that are just everywhere in big cities. I would see a big word or company logo in helvetica, and cars would go by and people would walk by it. That became the blueprint for a lot of the film. That's the moment that I saw the whole film in my head, and I was just filling in the blanks when I went out and shot it... All the people in the film love what they do and it shows, and they're really great at what they do, and I think that comes across whether you're talking about graphic design or rug weaving or any creative outlet."

It is only coming to Vancouver in early August, but check this page for screenings in other major cities. I can't wait!

Royal Ontario Museum

I am over a month late writing about the Renaissance ROM's transformation. Anyway, here is a pictures of how it looks, as designed by Daniel Libeskind:


The expansion is, not surprisingly, the crystal-like form factor that protrudes out of an otherwise rather conventional building. From a news release, "Daniel Libeskind's... design (as proposed in the architect's written submission)... entitled The Crystal... is [i]nspired by the crystalline forms in the ROM's mineralogy galleries. Libeskind... proposed a structure of organically interlocking prismatic forms, turning this important corner of Toronto and the entire museum complex into a luminous beacon, a showcase of people, events, and objects. Daniel Libeskind's sculptural composition of architectural forms radiates from the entrance crystal, gathering the urban vitality of Bloor Street. A new group entrance on Queen's Park is provided, while Philosopher's Walk is marked by a new entrance to the cafe and panoramic restaurant up above. Visitors enter a spectacular atrium in which the two themes of the Museum, Nature and Culture, are distinctly showcased through intertwining stairs leading to the exhibitions above. The entire ground level is unified into a seamless space with clarity of circulation and transparency. The Crystal transforms the ROM's fortress-like character, turning it into an inspired atmosphere dedicated to the resurgence of the Museum as the dynamic centre of Toronto."

Some pictures of the exterior and interiors, from bila:


I really want to go to Toronto in the near future...

Emmanuel Polanco

I am increasingly fascinated with the power of illustrations. There is a very distinct inimitable style to each and every illustrator, much unlike Graphic Designers, especially with the advent of Photoshop and Illustrator. Today, I came across an Illustrator with a very unique and memorable sense of design while browsing around. Here are some of the designs that the Illustrator - Emmanuel Polanco - posted on his exceptionally beautiful portfolio that simply sum up classic tales in some pictures:


I do not speak French, so if anyone can provide me some information on these projects, please let me know! Regardless, do take a look at his work - they are all compelling pieces.

Name Voyager

I am a sucker for great use of interactive media. When used purely for eye-candy (read: pretty but annoying), it is infuriating; when used effectively (read: apt and clearly understandable), it can enrich your browsing experience. There are lots of examples of what-not-to-do-s on the web, but here is one that works wonderfully - and addictively. Check out the following Name Voyager screenshots:


It is very difficult to explain how it works, so the best is to mosey over to The Baby Name Wizard to find out for yourself.

Alka Seltzer Ad

You must know Alka Seltzer, and that they are widely associated with fizzling tablets. From Wikipedia, "the original Alka-Seltzer is a remedy for headache, indigestion and hangover... It is provided in the form of large effervescent tablets, about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter, which are dissolved (two at a time for the usual adult dosage) in a glass of water. As the tablets dissolve, the acid and bicarbonate react vigorously producing carbon dioxide gas (hence the "Seltzer"), which also produces enough agitation to allow the active ingredients to dissolve readily. The patient then ingests the resulting solution."

Since the fizzling behaviour is a widely known product feature, it is not surprising that it is used extensively in all their marketing efforts. Here is one of their print advertisements created by JWT Singapore that, I think, truly captures the essence of Alka Seltzer, quite literally too:

Design Award for Metro

Considering that Olympics is coming to Vancouver, our current state of public transportation system can, in my opinion, benefit from a little good design work. I have previously made a post about Translink website redesign, but such cosmetic changes is simply not good enough. The website usability could be improved upon, but more importantly, I simply do not feel that there is a strong identity/brand associated with our major public transportation vehicles, tickets and everything else that goes with it. So I looked into how others do it, and came up with L.A. Metro.

From Society for Environmental Graphic Design, "After spending decades and billions of dollars developing a commuter bus and light rail system for the sprawling Los Angeles region, the Metropolitan Transit Authority needed to create a comprehensive identity system for it... Metro's bold new fleet design... was developed to increase visibility on the street. The system's former paint scheme was a generic white with costly custom decals, and difficult for customers to distinguish from a distance. Vibrant new colors were chosen to denote service: “California poppy” for Metro Local service; “rapid red” for Metro Rapid service, “business blue” for Metro Express commuter service; and “stylish silver” for Metro Rail and Metro Liner service."


The review? From a Metro news release, "The panel of judges unanimously commended Metro “for its ability to create a strong graphic brand and a world-class system. Every graphic element – color, typography and color placement – was considered for its ability to communicate information concisely and consistenly.""


From SEGD, "Metro's first comprehensive Signage Standards Manual was developed to integrate both bus and rail signage and wayfinding concepts. The standards address including accessibility and the existing architecture of the Metro system. The standards include a plan for the re-vitalization of existing environments and address future construction and extensions of the transit system."


Can Vancouver rival that?

To read more about the design behind Metro, click here.