Tube map covers
Introduction
London Underground has been a pioneering arts commissioner for more than 100 years. It has worked with artists, architects, and designers on every aspect of transport design including station architecture, posters and maps, vehicles, and upholstery.
Following this tradition, Art on the Underground, originally called Platform for Art, was established in 2000. It built on an earlier London Transport initiative begun in the 1980s.
In 2004, the first artist was commissioned to create a cover for London Underground’s pocket Tube map. Since then, 38 covers have been created by a variety of British and international artists. These free maps represent one of the largest public art commissions in the UK. Each design has a print-run of around 2 million copies.
Tube map covers are the subject of our latest poster parade - see it in the Museum now. This display was created in collaboration with Art on the Underground.
