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The Power of 3 : It's a Conspiracy : Peter Le : Dollar ReDe$ign
Lucky for Some! 'Although film and photography is my main discipline, the anthropological aspects of design and their origins has always been of interest to me, and the Dollar has always been the center piece of that fascination. There is much conspiracy surrounding the design of the American one Dollar bill. From the obvious pyramid and the "all seeing eye" to the thirteen stars of the colonies arranged in a hexagram above the eagle in the US seal, to the not so obvious owl found on the top right hand corner of the front. These symbols, any many more, have been said to be directly linked to Freemasonry. An organization often portrayed in contemporary media as being a shady secretive lot plotting to take over the world, and who were also responsible for many major events leading to the birth of America itself as well as shaping its destiny. George Washington, among others presidents such as Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Truman, were all Freemasons. Both Bush Sr and Bush Jr are members of the Skull and Bones, a Yale based fraternity said to be one of the highest echelons of Masonry. All of which I find deeply fascinating. So, in the spirit of good humor, I thought some purely Masonic currency would be appropriate. So what does "secret money" look like? Well, its got to have the Masonic numerology consisting of the numbers of 3, 9, 11, and 13, and so on. Its got to have the Masons' logo, the compass and square; its got to have Masonic presidents. Things that are linked to Masons, such as owls, skulls, pyramids, the all seeing eyes, etc. Add the colors red and black, which are really dark and sinister. Plus a few graphic touches to convey that this is in fact currency and voila! Secret Mason currency. Now, imagine a world where everything is priced in multiples of 3 ...' Canadian born Peter Le studied photography at Parsons New School and is currently living in Beijing, China.
In Profile : Kyle R Thompson : Winner : Dollar ReDe$ign Competition
The winner of our July 4th Dollar ReDe$ign competition was 25 year old Kyle R Thompson. Kyle’s greatest source of inspiration he says is “designing for good causes” and firmly believes that “conceptual design can really transform the way people deal with their communities.”
Thompson, whose design heroes include Seymour Chwast, Pushpin, Big Active, Marian Bantjes, the artists of Die Brücke, and Michael Schwab – to name just a few – graduated from Atlanta’s Portfolio Center in 2008. Now living in Venice, CA, Thompson freelances for various Los Angeles agencies including Deutsch, 30sixty Design, Droga5, World-Wide-Mind, and Wingman Media and has worked on projects for clients ranging from HBO to Hornitos Tequila.
His winning Dollar ReDe$ign submission was actually created during his final year in Atlanta: “my concept flows from my education in politics and American history, and my belief that there are innumerable reasons to be inspired by America’s genesis. I wanted to take a step back from the people who founded America and look at the thinkers who inspired them. Working on the project got me inspired about my own take on America's future; and yes, I think the American Dollar is in dire need of a redesign; the bill feels cold and outdated, especially when you see it next to the Euro.”
Thompson is also a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan and is currently working on a range of covers and posters for Tolkien’s ‘The Silmarillion’ series of stories and myths. He also recently completed a rebranding scheme for the UK based charity M.E.N.D.: “more and more we're finding that if the message of bettering your community and giving to charity etc is fun, hip, sexy, and joyous even, then people's attitude and likelihood of participation increases dramatically. Although working on this project was both challenging and fun, in the end it was very fulfilling for me.”
You can view more of Kyle’s work on his website
Delicious Dollars : Could Currency Design Get Any More Seductive!
How much is good design really worth? Lisa Tse (www.lisatse.com), a London-based designer and brand consultant, thinks it's worth quite a bit. In fact she's gone as far as printing her own $100 bills – obviously the American Dollar represented 'value' more than the British Pound in this case – but actually these extremely elegant 'bills' would look rather tasty sitting inside any cash register and who wouldn't want to spend a gorgeous gold foil and sumptuous black $100 bill at the grocery store. Just imagine getting a stack of these next time you went to the bank to pay off that 'loan' from your 'uncle.' But seriously, Tse's 'Design Dollars' are meant to represent 'the commercial value design affords, where creative thinking plays an integral part in any successful business strategy.' Clearly Lisa is on to something. Design does have value. Hello! Time to wake up and smell the coffee North America! Good design IS good for business.
Dean Potter : Dollar ReDe$ign : 'We're a Culture Not a Government'
'My design features: a vertical orientation, because it's how I handle money; American artists, we're a culture, not just a government; corresponding geographical scenes; and a complementary color scheme, with bold, high-contrast numbers.'
Dean Potter lives in Anchorage, Alaska
© Copyright 2009 The ‘Author’. All rights reserved.
These designs are NOT legal tender.
Visit: http://www.DollarReDesign.com/submit
to learn how to submit your ideas.
Aram Asarian : Dollar ReDe$ign (DC) : Fresh Modern Wonderful
"Why re-design the paper currency? The existing currency is wonderful: the color, the size, the smell, the history. The proposed new design enhances visual accessibility to a wide array of people including the visually impaired, by incorporating embossed braille into the design. There is a clear visual hierarchy in which the value of each bill is the main focal point, making it easier to distinguish bills from one another. The new design celebrates the existing paper currency by including historic iconography, while creating a fresh modern design that continues the timeless green."
Aram Asarian is a graphic designer based in Washington, DC.
© Copyright 2009 The ‘Author’. All rights reserved.
These designs are NOT legal tender.
Visit: http://www.DollarReDesign.com/submit
to learn how to submit your ideas.
Mikael Tarkela : Dollar ReDe$ign (DC) : Under the Influence : American Money, European Style
“I took my inspiration from European currency. Different colors and bill sizes for different denominations. Watermarks. Enlarged presidential image, off center and horizontal. Horizontal elements: vintage; vertical elements: modern. Fine entwined lines that change color from line to line and within the line. Large dark numeral printed with raised ink.”
Mikael Tarkela lives in Gaithersburg, MD.
© Copyright 2009 The ‘Author’. All rights reserved.
These designs are NOT legal tender.
Visit: http://www.DollarReDesign.com/submit
to learn how to submit your ideas.
Yordan Silvera : Dollar ReDe$ign (DC) : Faces of the Fallen
“In my redesign of the American Dollar I tried to address iconography, subject matter, and differentiation of note, security features, and legibility for the visually impaired. My design embraces the soldiers who died for this country. The current Dollar design presents former presidents. But my concept is a tribute to the men and women from our Armed Forces.
Even today young Americans might be dying, fighting for the dream of democracy. They die with honor, but they pass unknown to the average person. I propose featuring all of those faces of the fallen. This can be done through the technology of variable data. That way each of our bills will have a great value without being really expensive to reproduce, just by its graphic content. I would also like to give the viewer the chance to identify with the men and women who fought for this country. The main figure on the front of each bill is a portrait of a model of these men (ie Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Astronauts, and even Firefighters) Their silver face would reflect the face of the user. This would be achieved with foil stamp printing technology which would also serve as a security feature. Micro printing also appears on the face of the bill. The national anthem of the United States overlaps a typical animal of this country. The introduction of color is also important for easy differentiation of the note. A stable layout can be used to create visual consistency for the whole collection. The different contrasting colors and large numerals will also help the visually impaired separate the values. There is another feature for blind at the bottom right corner of the front of the bill. A system of six embossed and back glued stars differentiate each value from the other. The Braille system is not used because not all blind or visually impaired Americans know it; this simpler system of stars would be best.” Yordan Silvera is an artist and graphic designer from Germantown, MD. © Copyright 2009 The ‘Author’. All rights reserved.
These designs are NOT legal tender.
Visit: http://www.DollarReDesign.com/submit
to learn how to submit your ideas.
James Harless : Dollar ReDe$ign : 'Room for Milk?'
“I decided to work within a couple of restraints: 1) keep the current size so that we don't have to redesign our wallets and all of the various machines and systems that handle paper currency. 2) keep using the color green as a consistent component since that's such a strong cultural part of the concept of American currency, i.e. Greenback – although, the word Greenspan might now be a very good counter-argument to this.
The portraits are imagined as a gorgeous hologram with striking hints of red and blue - the portraits could be visually appealing, technologically impressive and difficult to counterfeit. Having a portion of the design that would be really difficult to reproduce might allow us to clean up the rest of the bill and reduce all that fussy intaglio detailing. We shouldn't be afraid to allow for some white space - a little breathing space makes this feel a little more modern - a little more contemporary. Our current bills also don't have a strong hierarchy. What's the most important piece of information on a bill? Its value. Let's don't be shy about it: let's make that number nice and big and strong and bold. That bill needs to say, ‘Look at me! I am five American Dollars! Now, please can I have half of one Starbucks Frappuccino. Thank you!’” James Harless is a graphic designer who lives in Southern California.
© Copyright 2009 The ‘Author’. All rights reserved.
These designs are NOT legal tender.
Visit: http://www.DollarReDesign.com/submit
to learn how to submit your ideas.
Red, White and Blue, We Love You : Alexander Matveev : Dollar ReDe$ign
From Chita in Russia, Alexander Matveev’s submission uses perhaps the most iconic symbol or Americanism, the Star Spangled Banner. Recognized around the world, our nation’s flag is an emotionally coded ‘summary’ of our values, beliefs and promises, depicted in an abstract graphic language that is based on history but at the same time is timeless and modern. It’s a classic in the truest sense. (RS) © Copyright 2009 The ‘Author’. All rights reserved.
These designs are NOT legal tender.
Visit: http://www.DollarReDesign.com/submit
to learn how to submit your ideas.
