Jacob Ford

New Yorkers daily trust an intentionally distorted subway map to guide them daily from origin to destination, through transfers and between stops. So also did ancient Romans, with a similarly distorted 4th-century Roman road map: the Tabula Peutingeriana. My map translates a small segment of the ancient Roman Tabula into the familiar style of the MTA’s New York City Subway Map. By seeing some of the Tabula’s information presented in a familiar and equally distortionary format, anybody familiar with NYC subways may be able to feel, just for a bit, like an ancient Roman traveler, or his cartographer.

Jabob’s essay on the MTA Peutingeriana.

Jacob graduated in 2016 from New York University’s undergraduate Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a self-titled concentration in Ethics of Design. Often combining data, academic research, humor, and minimalism, his work has been called ”ineligible” and ”turned in past the deadline” by key figures in the art world. Jacob is the Chief Technology Officer for the design agency IB5k, and is the Material Production Manager at Mmuseumm, a modern unnatural history museum in a former elevator shaft. He lives on the upper west side of Manhattan’s East Village with his cat, girlfriend, and three beautiful wall-mounted unperfected 4-up signatures from Edward Catich’s The Origin of the Serif (first edition). He is a member of the New York Map Society.

Jacob’s Website: http://jacobford.com/

<< Previous artist . . . . . . Next Artist >>
Maps Everywhere/NJCU