Currency Redesign
ART 252
Spring 2022
The Ask/The Challenge/Project Statement
The challenge for this project was to take an existing currency and redesign it.
Target/Intended Audience
The intended audience for my project is the country of Australia.
Research
For the research portion of this project I looked up the country's current tender and decided it desperately needed to be redesigned. Then, I figured out what I wanted to replace it with: the flora and fauna of the country, and specifically the national animals and most recognized. I also looked at different currency that I thought was really successful and tried to emulate some of those elements in my own design.
Design Process
The first phase of this project was deciding which currency to redesign. At first, I was conflicted because the United States of America's money is also fairly unattractive in my own personal opinion. But, I thought Australia would lend itself better to the project due to the amount of cool and interesting plants and animals found there. I wanted to have the Koala, the Kangaroo, and the Emu since they are likely the three most recognizable animals from Australia. The Emu is actually the national bird of the country and the Kangaroo is the national animal. The next phase was figuring out what to put on the bills, and how to emulate the safety features found on most currency these days. I wanted to keep the clear safety feature found on current Australian money, and I added complex geometric patterns, seals, and signatures to make the bills seem more real.
Design Solution
I think my solution to this challenge came out really well. Though the $50 and the $20 look similar with their colors, I wanted to retain some resemblance to the original bills. This is also why the $100 looks different from the other two. I thought it would be better for the money to have the wildlife represented on the money instead of people, so as to celebrate the diversity of this country. This is also why I decided to include indigenous artwork on each design. I think it is important for these cultures to be acknowledged and recognized to show that they are still around, even despite their horrendous treatment.
