DOLLAR REDE$IGN PROJECT UPDATE

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V13 2010 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 13, Number 35, August 29, 2010, Article 21

We've been following the Dollar ReDe$ign Project, an unofficial privately-sponsored contest inviting artists to contribute their ideas for new designs for U.S. paper money. There have been a number of interesting and creative designs submitted. See the link below to view them and vote for your favorites. The deadline has been extended to September 30, 2010.

A recent entry has sparked a lot of political debate. I didn't publish the design last week, but I can't resist now that the submitters have been called �a bunch of tea-drinking fancy pants Limeys.� -Editor

As one may have expected, design company Dowling Duncan's imaginative currency redesign for Richard Smith's Dollar Rede$ign Project has sparked some heated reactions.

... a blog called Southern Beale sarcastically referred to [the] half-British company as �a bunch of tea-drinking fancy pants Limeys.�

The designers told the UK's Creative Review that the controversy came as a surprise. �We wanted to challenge people's perceptions about what the dollar should be or could be, but putting Obama on the $1 bill seems to be the major talking point.�

There's currently no word on Obama's reaction to the design. �[W]e've tried desperately to get to him but as you can imagine he is a hard man to reach,� says Dowling Duncan. �We've been told by some good sources that he would have seen it, but for him to comment on it would really ignite the debate.�

Besides the �partisan� messages on some the bills, the redesign offers some pragmatic improvements. �When we researched how notes are used we realized people tend to handle and deal with money vertically rather than horizontally,� the studio explained. �You tend to hold a wallet or purse vertically when searching for notes. The majority of people hand over notes vertically when making purchases. All machines accept notes vertically. Therefore a vertical note makes more sense.� The notes are also sized differently based on their value, like the Euro.

Dowling Duncan's design currently has the most votes in Smith's contest, which will give an Apple iPad as a grand prize.

Please, hold the political comments. But do check out all the designs and vote. What features of these proposed designs would you like to see adopted for U.S. currency? The vertical orientation? Different sizes by denomination? Here are a couple other designs submitted to the project.

To read the complete article, see: Dollar ReDe$ign Project (richardsmith.posterous.com/tag/dollarredeign)

Wayne Homren, Editor