For pre-printed maps - especially those who refer to the colors mandated in the 1970 NYCTA Graphics Standards Manual - it would appear that by the time the first Vignelli maps were published in 1972, two of the colors - turquoise and green - were modified along the way. The 1970 manual had these colors listed:
- PMS 130 Yellow
- PMS 165 Orange
- PMS 185 Red
- PMS 239 Magenta
- PMS 300 Blue
- PMS 312 Blue
- PMS 354 Green
- PMS Black
. . . but by the time of the two 1972 Vignelli maps, and cross-checking against Pantone swatches of the era I have (1966 and 1973), the 3, 8, E and M would have been PMS 311 Blue (a shade under PMS 312), and the CC, GG, RR and SS PMS 355 Green (a bit darker than PMS 354). Here's why this may well be the case, besides my putting swatches next to the colors in question:
- When the ultimately ill-fated JFK Express was launched in 1978, its turquoise blue was a shade darker than the 3, E and M - and per the 1980 Graphics Standards Manual, PMS 312 was designated for "The Train to the Plane."
- When the route color formula was overhauled in 1979 (and first codified in 1980), PMS 355 - not 354 - was what was designated for use on the Lexington Avenue 4, 5 and 6 lines. And the consistency of the green was matched in the 1972 maps with CC, GG, RR and SS.
As well, there would appear to be an alternate color to PMS Black for the 5, B, QJ/J and LL lines: PMS 400 or 401 Gray.
It would also have made sense to lighten the turquoise routes to PMS 311 and darken the green routes to PMS 355 - because there was little if no distinction between PMS 312 and PMS 354 in either dim light (a lot of outer-borough underground stations well into the 1980's), or among color-blind people.
I would thus, for Vignelli "bullets," recommend PMS 311 for 3, 8, E and M, and PMS 355 for CC, GG, RR and SS.
As for the 1980 color scheme, here they are:
- N, QB, RR - PMS 130
- B, D, F - PMS 165
- 1, 2, 3 - PMS 185
- 7 - PMS Purple
- A, AA, CC, E - PMS 300
- JFK Express - PMS 312
- 4, 5, 6 - PMS 355
- GG - PMS 376
- J, M - PMS 154
- LL, S - PMS 430
. . . with the 8th Avenue lines changed around 1987 to PMS 286, and the BMT Broadway lines to PMS 116 likewise.
