Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Future euro banknote design proposals

ecb.europa.eu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 338 posts

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#211

Post by inigyou »

cm2187 wrote: post #203
lrasinen wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

no one feels unwelcomed by the Eiffel tower

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#212

Post by roysting »

fph wrote: post #175
ketzu wrote: 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.

[flagged]

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#213

Post by crote »

tialaramex wrote: post #19
morjom wrote: 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,…

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.

> nobody is expecting a specific bird to meet some arbitrary ideal

People will still find ways to get upset about none or too few of the birds being present in their country, or "their bird" being depicted on the "cheap" notes.

There are very few birds which are commonly seen throughout all of the EU, from cold and wet Finland to hot and dry Spain. Virtually all birds have a limited geographical living area, which means you are automatically unintentionally playing favorites with countries.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#214

Post by mihaic »

The people choosing these banknotes put their office buildings on the money. They also seemed to have a gender quota, and have put on the 200 euro someone who is unknown to most Europeans (Marie Curie and Maria Callas were popular on the other hand).

Honestly, I enjoy plenty of benefits from the EU, but this non-representative style of decision-making makes me understand the EU-haters.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#215

Post by CrLf »

Faces on Euro banknotes are a terrible idea. Even internationally well-known personalities are associated with certain countries, and you do not put things that represent specific countries on banknotes used in different countries.

The EU isn't a federation, and having a single currency doesn't make the eurozone any more so.

The buildings aren't as bad, being european insitution headquarters. However, as they aren't necessarily widely recognizable, they come out a bit self serving.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#216

Post by crote »

michaelt wrote: post #103
tialaramex wrote: post #19

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.

> if you put identifiable humans on a banknote people start to mistake their inevitable flaws for a desirable property Does the same logic extend all elevated positions? A person in a national portrait gallery, a person with a statue, a person with an olympic medal or a nobel prize, a person with a fancy title like president or queen? Or is there something specific about bank notes that makes them more problematic?

They are Euro bank notes. They are supposed to represent all of the EU. If there's even the possibility of someone getting upset over a specific portrayal you have failed at your one task.

I can't exactly get upset over "the concept of Renaissance architecture". I can get upset over, say, Beethoven fighting his sister-in-law to get the custody of her son.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#217

Post by simon84 »

zokier wrote: post #109

A) Front is nice, but I can't get over the shadow people in the backside B) The most boring of the options. The tiny text with the bird facts should not be there. C) Corporate hellscape. D) wtf are those hands doing here E) Again fronts look better than backs; fronts are very traditional bank-note to me. F) Most interesting option. Certainly feels different than any other bank note I recall. G) Ugh random vector shap…

D) is notably the one mixing best vertical and horizontal view.

I guess we are used to a horizontal layout, some try to be bold with completely vertical but it won't be easy to identify in my wallet.

So I would grant D) that fine balance argument.

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#218

Post by IlikeMadison »

crote wrote: post #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 c…

>there's a very genuine risk of people being upset over being underrepresented

Explain yourself. Who the hell could feel upset upon seeing Marie Curie, Beethoven, da Vinci or Maria Callas? They are all very recognizable, well known European figures with astounding achievements and highly respected by any true European worth its name.

Are you suggesting we should erase them because of someone's feeling?

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#219

Post by crote »

Bewelge wrote: post #190
like_any_other wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Can you elaborate what you mean? Are you against the idea of European cooperation in general? Or against the implementation? If there is to be European cooperation that goes beyond heads of states talking to each other, you're going to need some kind of space where they can do that. Using that building as a symbol seems like an obvious choice albeit not a very creative one. Really struggle to see how that choice can…

The average European does not view those buildings as symbols of European cooperation. They are just another generic office building some nameless and faceless bureaucrats work in. They lack the symbolism and recognizability of some US buildings like the White House, the Capitol, or the Pentagon - which are all inherently linked to the institutions they host.

A movie showing an external shot of the White House establishes that we're going to be looking at the US President next. A movie showing an external shot of the European Parliament establishes... office drones working in the Business Factory?

Re: Future euro banknote design proposals

#220

Post by crote »

inigyou wrote: post #211
cm2187 wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

no one feels unwelcomed by the Eiffel tower

Tell that to a victim of French colonialism, or to the Germans.
Post reply on HN