Take a quick look at the picture below: do you notice anything different from what you remember seeing in a Google Maps screenshot?
For this very first project, Linda and Yasmine, two newcomers to Berlin, transformed their 28 circles (14 each) on this map in various forms. Digital maps are essential for newcomers to a city. Their design, with icons simplifying real-life objects, follows a universal principle that resonates with people globally. We use maps so extensively that we often overlook the details. By altering the icons and text on this map screenshot, we place the unfamiliar in a familiar context. This reflects our experience of seeing Berlin as a new city we’ve never visited before but quickly adapt to. Moreover, placing the circle icons on the stations conveys a sense of agency and ownership of the city, which can be temporarily experienced by visitors during their short stay.
Our drawings
Abstraction and Representation
Linda’s abstract drawings reminded us of the tracks and metros of Berlin, so we decided to create a project related to the Berlin metro. We chose to redesign the stops we take to get from our residence to our university building, using inspiration from Yasmine’s drawings to name them. The names of the stops were based on Linda’s and Yasmine’s interpretation of the drawings, what they reminded us of, or what they looked like.
For example:
| Original name of the icons | Translate it to German |
| palm treemonkey/rat second grade popsicle no more school Christmas gift Abu Dhabi Little man | Palme Affe/Ratte zweite Klasse Eis am Stiel keine Schule mehr Weihnachtsgeschenk Abu Dhabi Kleiner Mann |
Implementation
We edited an image from Google Maps that outlined the path to our university using the metro. We changed the names of the stations and used some of Linda’s drawings to create icons placed alongside the map to help interpret it. We translated the names of our made-up stations into German and replaced the real station names with them.
Bringing it to Life
To rename the stations at the metro, we stuck our icons onto random places at the stations.
