Edgewater Hotel Sign Comes Down
The Art of Not Knowing
If You Tweet It, He Will Come
Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
Vandalist: My Dog's Name Is "Shadow"
"When I saw the January Adult [Metro]pass," artist Valentine Makhouleen wrote on his blog on Monday, "it reminded me of everything that is miserable about January in Toronto—gray skies, traffic on St. Clair, packed streetcars, unbearable cold and hospital pajamas. This mood is further reinforced by TTC through inconsistent type, bold borders, hideous out-of-place patterns, lack of a balanced grid and inconsistent spelling." The current passes, he wrote, lack "personality."
We don't really need to tell you what happens next—Makhouleen made twelve new Metropass mockups of his own, one for each month of this year, and each one featuring a new area of the city, because, he wrote, "I tried to think about what TTC stands for (aside from fare hikes and recent crime) and what the pass gets you."
The passes are only mockups; Makhouleen began them, he told Torontoist, as a "personal project," and all but one of the background photos were shamefully cobbled together from around the internet without permission from their photographers, though Makhouleen is adamant that once the weather clears he'll hop on the TTC and take some shots himself. For now, then, the passes are "merely a finger pointing in the right direction," he wrote, and "maybe someone at TTC will read this and try to inject some life into the $109 piece of plastic."
The passes, designed by (and courtesy of) Makhouleen, are above.
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Fantastic! The TTC really needs to revamp its Metropass design (again). The last reboot was better, but not anywhere close to what a simple redesign like this does.
The TTC should have a customizable transit pass.
I am imagining a system where you go on the website, select your font and upload a background image. You would pay, then have it printed off. It would then be made available for pickup at a subway station of your choice.
The only thing better than well-designed metropasses is a metropass that doesn't need to be bought every month. Presto card, are you listening?
tricked! i thought this was the actual design and got very, very excited. (esp as my office is moving downtown next month and so i could actually buy one/all)
as for customizable ones.. yeah.. can't see the drivers being too keen on having to patiently identify those each month.
It's way more aesthetically pleasing, that's for sure.
I am really really passionate about Metropass design. It used to be that I'd get my Metropass and feel excited because now I had unlimited mobility within the city. It was like a blank cheque for exploratory opportunities. Now I get it and just feel like I spent $110 on a piece of crap. There's a reason that expensive stuff is usually packaged really nicely - it helps you justify the purchase. Help me, TTC. Help me justify the purchase.
A Metropass that is clean-looking, classy, and collectible? A ridiculous notion!
these are fantastic!!!! don't wait for the ttc to stumble across them, pitch them in person!
seeing these make me 10,000x more proud of toronto (who knew civic spirit and a metropass could be interlinked?) and a little less jaded about how well the ttc gets us to all these fantastic spots in the city.
the current metropass could be from any old public transportation route. these make the ttc and toronto something to be excited about.
Kudos to Makhouleen! Wonderful designs--let's hope the TTC picks them up.
One small note, though: The image on the Bloor West Village pass (for May) is of the Annex, not said Village. Maybe a shot of something near Runnymede and Bloor would work instead?
This makes me love Toronto. With pictures like that, wouldn't you want to ride the TTC and explore the city?
Thanks for kind words, everyone!
In Tokyo, they use mobile technology for subway payment and UK is thinking about it as well. Unfortunately, we are still decades away from such initiatives.
http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/2008/09/use_your_mobile_as_your_oyster_card.html
Re: The November design - Where in Leaside is there a botanical garden?
Oops, seems that I used a photo of Allan Gardens Conservatory. I'll revise as soon as I get a chance.
Thanks for noticing!
You people actually look at your metropasses after the 1st of the month?!
I don't think Downsview looks like that in January.
My thought, too. Definitely an August mood with that colour. (Which might be a good thing? We could probably use a bit of August in January...)
And that was supposed to be a reply to MattAlexander. Insert grumble about incompetent web development here.
The TTC should have an annual design competition where they select from submissions and print the winner's design for one particular month. Start creating a real relationship with your riders, TTC.
I agree! I would keep the main template/framework, but have contests for photos, illustration, kid drawings, anything that has a theme.
This might be a silly comment, but is it at all possible that the inconsistency in type and blurgh designs on the Metropass are a means of thwarting fake cards? That's what I always thought... These are very nice designs though! When I first moved to Toronto I love the TTC and my Metropass, now I'm just bummed out by the whole system.
I hate to bring this up, so many months later too... because this is a great idea, and these passes look great... but the Bloor West Village shot looks a lot like the (late) great all-night delicatessen Mel's in the Annex...