About / FAQ
Vanmaps is the junction of my love for minimal graphic design and maps, specifically subway maps. The basic idea is to take the subway map we are all so used to seeing and completely flip everything. A good subway map makes reading the different subway lines easy and clear so you can find your way from point A to point B. This requires the map to distorted so the city you see on the map isn’t real. This is perfectly displayed in Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 map of the New York City Subway which showed Central Park as a giant square.
When I look at the subway map I always want to know where the lines really go. The VanMaps take this wish to a ridiculous extreme. A fully geographic map would be cluttered and difficult to read. I stripped that all away. All you have now is the essence, the subway itself and nothing else. In trying for the most geographic accuracy the map now becomes totally abstracted. The subway line exists on a blank plane. Totally accurate, totally useless. But damn does it look good.
What is a vanshnookenraggen?
Vanshnookenraggen (van – shnok’ – en – rag’ en) is Andrew Lynch.
I am a CUNY Hunter College Alum (’09) with a BA in Geography. I am a former real estate agent, photographer, and radical cartographer living and working in New York City. I started making maps because the maps I wanted to see didn’t exist. I have always been fascinated by giant plans for cities that were never realized. One night I decided to make a map of the Boston subway, the MBTA, as it would have looked as if the planned extension of the Red Line through my home town hadn’t been shot down. It snowballed from there. I have to admit I am a lazy person so for me to design and produce a map it’s only because I’ve exhausted my search for someone else to do it. I share these with the world out of love for what I do and I hope it shows.
What is an infographic?
An infographic is exactly what it sounds like: it’s an informational graphic. Vanmaps are as much about education as they are about good design. Each subway map tells you a story about the history of the line to give it a context that is missing as the design has stripped all context away. The statistics put the line in another context, that of how the line compares to the rest of the system.
Do you offer other sizes?
All prints are available only in the sizes shown. Tracks maps cannot be printed any smaller than they are due to a loss of detail quality. At this time I don’t offer framing service.
Do you offer framing?
I offer black frames for all prints at the 18″ x 24″ side (or smaller). I am unable to offer frames for larger prints at the moment.
Returns and exchanges
All sales are final. I do not accept returns or exchanges due to an incorrectly ordered print.
If your poster is damaged in shipping, please contact me as soon as possible and provide detailed pictures of the damage. I will arrange for a new print to be shipped out.
