Mark Ovenden

This article is about the public transport specialist. For the sportscaster, see Mark Ovenden (sportscaster).

Mark Ovenden
Mark Ovenden
Born	June 20, 1963 (1963-06-20) (age 48) London, England
Occupation	Writer and journalist
Nationality	British
Period	2003–present
Subjects	Rapid transit
markovenden.com

On the left / Yo Kaminagai, Paris Métro designer on the right

Mark Ovenden F.R.G.S. (born 20 June 1963, London, UK) is a broadcaster and author who specialises in the subjects of graphic design, cartography and architecture in public transport, with an emphasis on underground rapid transit.

His first book Metro Maps of the World published in 2003 is a guide to the diagrams, plans and maps of every underground rapid transit system^[1] including images ranging from photos of the systems to rare and historical maps and every available current official plan. The book was supported by the UITP, the international association of transport operators, and by the London Transport Museum. A Dutch edition was published in autumn 2006 (titled Metrokaarten van de wereld), and an American edition (entitled Transit Maps of the World) was launched on 30 October 2007 by Penguin Books.

Paris Metro Style in map and station design, was published November 2008. Endorsed by the RATP, it traces the cartographic evolution and graphic design of the Paris Metro.^[2] A revised American edition with a different title was published October 2009 and a French edition is underway. Railway Maps of the World was published in May 2011 in the USA, a British edition is due for September 2011. The author is now preparing a new book for Penguin UK on London Underground design and has several others about the wider aspects of graphic design on public transport systems in preparation.

Ovenden was previously a journalist, news presenter and radio producer. He was founding editor of Due South Magazine and was half of the independent production company, 'OutSpoken', which made BBC Radio 1's 7-part lesbian and gay series Loud'n'proud in 1993. He also worked in TV and radio for Kiss 102, as Programme Manager; Kiss 100, newsreader; BBC Radio Five, reporter; BBC Radio 1, producer of the Annie Nightingale show; Planet 24, researcher on GayTimeTV; BBC Two, contributor to Map Man; Ministry of Sound, Head of Radio; LBC, producer; and MTV, music programmer. At Atlantic 252 he was a producer and newsreader and co-presented a review show with Chris Coco. He also spent several years (1990–1993) working for Manchester City Council's Equality Group as a Gay Men's officer, charged with implementing their policy of non-discrimination and giving training sessions to staff countering homophobia, during the period when Section 28 was being enforced.

Works

• Metro Maps of the World, Capital Transport, London, 2003. ISBN 1-85414-288-7
• Metrokaarten van de wereld, Terra Lannoo, Arnhem, 2006. ISBN 978-90-5897-583-6
• Transit Maps of the World (Paperback), Penguin, New York, 2007. ISBN 978-0-14-311265-5
• Paris Metro Style in map and station design, Capital Transport, London, November 2008. ISBN 978-1-85414-322-8
• Paris Underground: The Maps, Stations, and Design of the Metro (Paperback), Penguin, New York, October 2009. ISBN 978-0-14-311639-4
• Railway Maps of the World, Viking Adult, New York, 2011. ISBN 978-0-67-002265-9
• Great Railway Maps of the World, Particular Books, London, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84614-391-5

References

• Underground Railways yesterday–today–tomorrow, Walter J Hinkel, Karl Treiber, Gerhard Valenta, Helmut Liebsch, Schmid Verlag, Vienna 2004
• Metro, the story of the underground railway, David Bennett, Mitchel Beazley, London 2004
• Telling the passenger where to get off, Andrew Dow, Capital Transport, London 2005
• Underground Maps after Beck, Maxwell J. Roberts, Capital Transport, London 2005
• The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground was Built and how it Changed the City Forever, Christian Wolmar, Atlantic Books, London 2005
• Exchanges: A Global History Reader, Volume 2, From 1450 to the present, Trevor R. Getz, Richard J. Hoffman, Jarbel Rodriguez, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2009
• Helvetica and the New York City Subway System, Paul Shaw, Blue Pencil Editions, New York 2010
• Le Métro de Paris, Julian Pepinster, Editions La vie du rail, Paris 2010 ISBN 978-2918758129

1. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-10-25-transit-map-book_N.htm
2. ^ http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/harry-beck-the-paris-connection

External links

• Personal website
• Metro maps of the world book website
• Review in New York Times Sunday Book Review
• Review in LA Times
• Book review in The Guardian
• Author article on subject in The Times, London
• BBC News feature on Rail map book
• feature Wall Street Journal New York
• Library Thing
• BoingBoing review
• Interview on OutUK
• World urban rail poster
• Poster on Strangemaps
• Article on Beck and Paris

Persondata
Name	Mark Ovenden
Alternative names
Short description	Writer and journalist
Date of birth	1963-06-20
Place of birth	London, England
Date of death
Place of death