When people think of maps, they often imagine accuracy — roads that mirror the real world, geographically precise details, and topographical fidelity. But in 1931, British designer Harry Beck challenged that convention. His revolutionary London Underground map dispensed with geographic accuracy altogether. Instead, it focused on connections, clarity, and usability.
For Eritrip founder Daniel Abbay — an Eritrean-born, London-raised designer — this idea was transformative.
While studying graphic design in the UK, Daniel encountered Beck’s work and was immediately drawn to its visual intelligence. Beck showed that maps didn’t have to replicate the physical world to be useful. By simplifying layout, straightening lines, and emphasising how things were connected rather than where they were located, Beck made navigation intuitive.
That principle stuck with Daniel.
Years later, on a trip to Eritrea, Daniel realised that while the country was rich in beauty, culture, and landmarks, it lacked compact, culturally relevant travel tools, especially for diaspora visitors. Most guides were bulky or written from an outsider's lens. The opportunity was clear: create a new kind of map that helped Eritreans reconnect with home.
Inspired by Beck’s methodology, Daniel created the Asmara City Map and the Eritrean Road Map, designed not to mirror exact geography, but to guide movement and spark confidence. Like Beck’s tube map, the Eritrip maps focused on landmark-based navigation, simplified routes, and visual logic. They weren’t just guides, they were tools of cultural re-entry.
This design philosophy carried into the Eritrip board game, where simplified routes and symbolic landmarks help players travel across Eritrea — learning, laughing, and reconnecting along the way.
Eritrip is a tribute to both heritage and innovation, merging British design influence with Eritrean identity. Beck's legacy didn’t just change how people navigate London. It helped inspire a generation of diaspora designers to imagine how culture and design can bridge continents, generations, and memory.
