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What Would U.S. Money Look Like, Given the Proper Attention of an Industrial Designer?
Bills so pretty you'd never spend them
By Rain Noe - Jun 06
Industrial designer Andrey Avgust hails from Belarus, a country whose currency I admit I've never seen. But he's seen our yankee dollars and recognizes that their design kind of stinks.
For fun Avgust gave U.S. bills a redesign, starting with the material: Polymer.
Enter a caption (optional)Then he took the design iconography of current American cash and reimagined it within a new window, flipping the orientation from landscape to portrait (except for one shot of the stubbornly horizontal White House):
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Enter a caption (optional)He had a bit of fun with the anti-counterfeiting measures too, imagining what metameric (optically variable) inks would look like under a black light:
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Enter a caption (optional)Of course, money this gorgeous would never work in America. If I owned something that pretty I'd want to keep it. The powers that be would prefer we spend.
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Rain Noe
Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.
9 Comments
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Though I do appreciate the design and feel of the above currency; though in aesthetically appraising our current notes, I agree with the conservative elements of the treasury and monetary systems. The USD, the most coveted currency in circulation, derives it's value partially from its image of stability. Stability means recognition, it means no radical changes and it embodies conservation. Personally, I'd rather have recognizable notes, perhaps ones that are even staid, dull, green and respectable; versus notes that or flashy, beautiful and of questionable value. The US may have some of the most boring monetary notes, but it also has the most valuable notes. A good designer will Will create beautiful things, but without fully understanding the implication of the changes that one is introducing, they can easily do more harm than good.
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Here is an interesting look at the design of currency: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-54-the-colour-of-money/
One thing I would like to see in our currency is a difference in size between bills. It would make separation of bills by denomination easier, not to mention it would greatly benefit the visually impaired in dealing with our currency.!Report as spam-
Agreed on the size/aid for the visually impaired. These are gorgeous, but one piece of the graphic design I'd like to see better considered is the orientation and placement of the numerical denomination according to how the bills are most typically stored/used. A wallet being the foremost, with the upper (side in this case) edge peeking out. A numeral at the upper corner of each bill as exposed in a wallet is extremely helpful in quickly reviewing a stack of bills without having to pull them out of the wallet. Next I'd say is folded into quarters length-wise, as many do now with card holders and minimal wallets. Perhaps there is a position a quarter of the way or so down the bill that would allow easy review of a stack of bills folded in this way.
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the comments above are interesting, thoughtful and mostly overthought, in my opinion. there is only one appropriate comment to my liking... These designs are f——-g gorgeous!
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Lots to love here. It almost feels like a reinterpretation of some of the passport iconography.
My biggest gripe is actually replacing Alexander Hamilton with Thomas Jefferson on the $10 bill. To me, that's a particularly egregious substitution. Between his cowardice during the Revolution and his laying the foundation for The Civil War to pay his own debts, Jefferson deserves a lot less founding father street cred than he gets. Hamilton, meanwhile, is barely remembered mostly because of the lies told by Jefferson and his cronies. This despite playing key roles in both the war and the foundation of how our country actually works. Ron Chernow's biography of Hamilton is great reading and lays all of that out in more detail than I care to repeat here. This book was also the inspiration for the musical, which is frankly far more charitable to Jefferson than his actions deserve.!Report as spam -
It would be great if bills, cards, and phones should all be sized to fit together.
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Not enough women or minorities, this is racist and sexist.
/s!Report as spam -
Here's the interesting history behind the Federal Reserve "notes"
https://youtu.be/y9x986VJ9lI!Report as spam-
#woke designers
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Continued Reading
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