WORK

     








NY Train Project







Background

Through New York's subway system can be one of the most exciting or overwhelming experiences that a first time visitor or seasoned rider can have. I have been on the subway thousands of times but only until recently did I take the time to really look at my surroundings. One day while waiting for the 6 train at the Bleecker stop, I began to notice the intricate details of the carefully placed tiles in the station sign. Which led me to noticing other station signs and how they were all different, infused with the personality of the neighborhood. I decided that I wanted to share this with others by creating an online gallery of subways stations in NYC. 

I began NY Train Project back in 2013 with the hopes of one day completing all the boroughs. In 2014 I launched the site with Manhattan, then followed that by Brooklyn in 2015, the Bronx in 2016 and recently wrapped up the project with Queens in 2017.
















The process


This project took me all over NYC. I rode every train line through every borough to photograph all the signs to use as references.  I had a reason to explore various neighborhoods that I normally would not have gone too.

During this process, I documented the amount of time I spent riding and waiting for the train, the number of subway swipes and the number of stations covered.






Site map


The New York subway runs on a very large and complex system. To mimic this experience, I researched each line carefully to see if that particular train ran through multiple boroughs or just one.

I also created a filter system with the idea to keep users engaged on the site and allow them to skip around to other boroughs and tracks without having to start over from the homepage.














The signs

The next step of the project was to re-illustrate all the signs. To be honest, there was no easy way around this. Each letter was created tile by tile to form the name of the station. With 469 stations, I broke the process by focusing on launching one borough per year. 















Awards



Webby Winner
W3
Net Magazine
Pixel Awards
Communication Arts

Press



Mashable
NY Times
Fast Company
PSFK
Daily Mail
The Atlantic
Complex
Gothamist
Gizmodo














Textio Frontdoor
MTV Artists
MTV Playlist
Boston Scientific
MTV Music Meter