In this four-minute outtake that didn’t make it into the final version of the documentary film Helvetica, designer Massimo Vignelli talks about his 1972 map of the New York subway system — which, you may recall, encountered stout opposition. Vignelli argues that, far from being too abstract, as the map’s detractors argued, his map wasn’t abstract enough: he should have left out the geographical references to waterways and parks, he thinks, leaving a blank background instead. Via Anil Dash, who also points to this 2004 entry at Design Observer about the Vignelli map.

Previously: Eddie Jabbour’s New York Subway Map; New York Subway Maps.