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Future euro banknote design proposals

ecb.europa.eu

201–210 of 338 posts

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#201
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but all the buildings are modernist skyscrapers and uninspired office buildings Because they are the european institutions, eg the EU parliament building, EU comission, etc. They are mostly office buildings.

That does not mean they were the only possible choice. Personally, I find having my continent represented by them an extreme insult.

An extreme insult, seriously?

It seems pretty neutral, if un-exciting, to see EU institutions displayed on Euro banknotes. It also avoids the obvious pitfall of national landmarks.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#202
post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ATS return 5€, or did I miss something? Also: vending machines can take notes as well, so I really don't get the argument

Here in Belgium neither is the case (or maybe I'm just unlucky with my bank and vending machines), but that might just be Belgium being a shithole again.

Okay interesting, I don't use much cash! Gonna try in Germany, but I always took out x5€ haha

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: IDGAF haven't used cash in years Europe is a continent with countries that have literally centuries of enimity and nationalism between them. You cannot put a French building on a banknote. Bland and inoffensive is what keeps the Union together. Its why Strasbourg exists. Its why there are Dutch translators despite the fact every Dutch member of parliament speeches in English.

I'm in the EU and you absolutely can put a French building on a banknote. I'd much rather look at the Eiffel tower or the Tower of Pisa or Neuschwanstein castle than the European Court of Auditors. Or if you like to have something modern, Paimio Sanatorium or Turning Torso.

But that defeats the purpose of having a boring glass building, or birds or modern bridges. The underpinning ideology is that europe should have no history, no culture and no identity, because suggesting anything else 1) will offend the hyper sensitivity of modern left ideologues who think that the said culture, history and identity is terrible and should only be condemned, apologised for, and buried, and 2) would be unwelcoming to immigrants as it would suggest somehow that there is a society they should adapt to rather than the other way round.

I remember a major French pro-european politician (Modem party) attempting to define Europe (in the context of integrating Turkey), as "the friends of democracy". When you can't (or rather refuse to) define your identity, the only thing left to represent it is birds, office buildings and bridges. Notre Damme de Paris or the Pantheon in Rome are just old embarrassing historical artefacts of an evil civilisation.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#204
post #175
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but all the buildings are modernist skyscrapers and uninspired office buildings Because they are the european institutions, eg the EU parliament building, EU comission, etc. They are mostly office buildings.

This sounds very self-centered. Many people already see the EU bureaucrats as something alien, let's not give them another reason to think they're selfish.

Yeah. Bad choice.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#205

The only reason I can think of for this is a push to a cashless society. Specially the vertical banknotes, what is up with that?

I rated the vertical ones the highest, I think it's genious. It automatically struck me as way more usable. You can see the denomination as you are handing it to someone. It's easier also hold a stack in your hand and count them by flipping the free end, without twisting your hand to read the numbers. Also we are more used to vertical layout in things than we hold in our hands (books, phones, etc.). Definitely a superior design, even if less usual.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#206
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an Austrian, it feels a bit annoying that the Germans got their one famous composer - they're kind of our thing! Why not Mozart, Strauss, Haydn, Schubert? It's also unfortunate that the nice peaceful bird motif was paired with the ugly modern buildings on the other side.

Beethoven was born in the 18th century. Germany did not exist yet.

Was gonna say the same thing. Also by the standards of the time one could argue that Austria and Germany where kinda the same thing. There's a parallel history where Austria could have ended up being another German Lander. Nationalism is a weird and now anachronic 19th century invention.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#207
I think buildings or areas may be more useful than people. But, if people are chosen then these should be as least controversial as possible. Compare it to the USA where the orange king wants to brand everything with his old man face. The insanity brand.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#208
I feel like the design guidelines were fundamentally flawed, and as a logical result none of the design proposals are better than what we already have.

The whole "some person's face" thing doesn't work because most people won't be familiar with them. Heck, you'd be lucky if the average person is familiar with their names! The birds & buildings suffer from the same issue: never seen them, can't identify them, don't care about them. And because it references real-world things there's a very genuine risk of people being upset over being underrepresented, or the person or institution being depicted getting disgraced.

What's left is the "vague depictions of people doing random things" theming, but that's neither European nor meaningful nor distinctive. You forget about it the second you stop looking at it.

The previous two series - depicting bridge types and building styles - neatly bypassed this by being something everyone could relate to, while at the same time not referencing anything specific-enough that anyone could be upset about it. Especially the first series nailed this down perfectly.

Given the mediocre design proposals we're now left with, I think Design J is the obvious best choice. It is not actively ugly, and the various bills are at least distinct enough that they are easy to tell apart. Design H isn't too bad, but the building side is just "generic glass blob in a distance" rather than anything one would remember and recognize.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#209
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer the Birds & Rivers theme because nobody is expecting a specific bird to meet some arbitrary ideal whereas if you put identifiable humans on a banknote people start to mistake their inevitable flaws for a desirable property. I feel this more strongly for statues, but it seems desirable for the Euro or any potential international currency too.

I'm partial for statues, and birds and rivers is a good theme. I feel like if they sticked to the semi-monochrome of the previous notes I'd be more favorable to them aswell. Monochrome might be the wrong word, ESL. For reference, the two previous runs at the top of the page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes

My favourite by far is Proposal F - Jan Robert Dünnweller. A sort of retro-modern design with a more restricted use of colour, like you suggest. This one really pops and is quite unique.

The others, for the most part, aren't necessarily bad, but they are a bit boring and derivative.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#210
post #5

For me, across all of them only two felt actually decent for a bank note (B & E, I is okay, just not used to bank notes in that orientation, same for J, but that one should be more monochrome). Either they were too vibrant or the design was too busy/had unnecesary elements. I also feel like the notes that had buildings (like we have now) are just.. better. The initial run of 2002-2013 remains the best aesthetically,…

> same for J, but that one should be more monochrome

The color is actually the main reason I dislike that design the least!

All the monochrome blobs do have a more traditional bank note feeling, but the complete lack of contrast makes them unmemorable and hard to identify. You can't trivially tell them apart at a quick glance, you have to either actively read the number or identify it by color. But the numbers aren't big enough for reading, and there are a lot of colorblind people.

Try opening them up in a photo editing tool. Blur them and desaturate them a bunch. Can you still tell them apart?

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