Beyond Convention: Cultivating Creativity and the Cartographic Imagination

Abstract

At 10 am on 11th March 1971, an Italian sports car manufacturer unveiled its new prototype at the Geneva Motor Show (Figure 1). The angular purity of its styling introduced a completely new look that redefined the concept of the supercar. Combining a space-age aesthetic with rocket-like performance, posters of this exotic-looking machine soon adorned the bedroom walls of a generation. Fifty years after its dramatic introduction, the Lamborghini Countach still has the power to shock, excite and demand attention. Fresh, disruptive and iconic, Marcello Gandini’s design cemented Lamborghini’s reputation as a leading performance car marque – a legacy acknowledged by their recent unveiling of a new Countach model (Lamborghini, 2021). Although many novel designs kindle a sense of delight, few possess enduring appeal. Some rare examples, such as Gandini’s Countach or Beck’s map of the London Underground (Figure 2), redefine design ideals. They express a common desire (in this case, for a better experience of mobility, whether for privileged users or the public) by transcending the pursuit of aesthetic or utilitarian goals and challenging conventions in a way that resonates with society. The angular geometry of each design presented a stark contrast to the organic forms of their predecessors, i.e. the Lamborghini Miura (also styled by Gandini) and the ‘vermicelli’ maps of the Underground, as Beck referred to them (see Garland, 1994; Kent, 2021). Their distinctive originality also made them immediately recognizable and memorable, which helped to secure their iconic status. It is, however, rare for a map to become a design icon. If technology provides the catalyst for the development of cartography, its transformation over the course of the twentieth century should perhaps have yielded a wealth of examples. Yet, as Monmonier (2005: 223) observes, although that century was more effective in fostering new genres (cartograms and news maps) and raising new concerns (public access and uncertainty), it delivered a ‘scarcity of outstanding individual graphics’. Hence, it is worth exploring how, in the twenty-first century, cartographers may feel more liberated to design maps that meet society’s evolving needs. If the previous century saw a lack of innovation in finding solutions to visualize complex spatial issues, creativity should occupy a more fundamental role in map design for current and future generations of cartographers.