During the development of Metro, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority considered giving each station its own pictogram. Fairly late in the game, the plan was shelved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trains are Awesome<\/strong><\/a>, a YouTube transit channel, revisited this idea in the video “What if the DC Metro used Pictograms?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Massimo Vignelli<\/strong> of Unimark designed the Metro station style guide<\/strong><\/a> (Ghosts of DC<\/em>), not long after coming up with the now iconic New York subway signage<\/a><\/strong> (Ceros<\/em>). When it came time to design the map, WMATA selected Laynce Wyman<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup> though. He was advised to retain the the Vignelli theme. Wyman was best known for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics<\/strong><\/a>. Following that, Wyman designed the Mexico City Metro logo, icons and wayfinding<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wyman planned to use icons for DC as well, but according to TRA, Vignelli provided unsolicited advice to WMATA – “don’t.” WMATA listened and after half a century, the Metro map<\/strong><\/a> and wayfinding have been iconic<\/strong><\/a> to the National Capital region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TRA spent much of 2025 revisiting this idea and coming up with a new collection of station pictograms.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEarly Metro wayfinding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Video<\/h2>\n\n\n\n