Concept Design: Currency

Student Project: Currency Re-design

Objective: re-design U.S. currency, or choose another country to re-design. Use bright and illustrative designs that align with vivid designs from other countries.

Design Process: I was originally going to imagine an "Idiocracy" currency 500 years in the future. But I didn't find that to be very inspiring in the long run. Instead, after gaining approval from my instructor, I conceptualized what currency might look like if we had a lunar colony 150 years in the future.

I did extensive research for this project, which I reflected in the final design. For example, I scaled the height of the bank note to match the height of the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11. I used a waxing crescent moon as the "Luna" symbol because all space missions to the moon were launched during that phase of the moon. For the numbering system, I used scientific notation and metric nomenclature (i.e., Kilo, Mega, Giga). I also created a design system for the currency so each denomination was recognizable as a cohesive unit.

For security features, I created a guilloche pattern using two circles scaled to the respective sizes of the Earth and the moon, with an ellipse surrounding them. I then applied a radial repeat to the pattern, as well as a gradient using spot colors, to enhance the security effect.

Color theory: I used a triadic color scheme. I chose the blue color first then used Adobe's triadic color palette for the other two colors. Each of the notes uses one of the three colors as the primary feature in their respective designs.

This project would easily translate into board game design, which has become especially popular in the science fiction genre.