OUGD406 Studio Brief 02 - Licence to Print Money - Research

Within this brief I need to conduct research into the development of banknotes and coinage, while also exploring the cultural understandings of legal tender. I need to begin a more developed interrogation of financial transactions in order to complete my own proposal for the future of the banknote.

The banknote design should be presented as a finished print that makes use of any of the varied analogue print processes available within the college's workshops. Submissions should additionally be created using a minimum of two colours/finishes. Paper size for completed work will be 21cm x 26cm with banknote designs displayed landscape. (The size of the actual banknotes are to be determined, when based on my design rationale. It is up to the me whether they choose to display one or two sides of a banknote on the print.) 

Each 21cm x 26cm print is to be submitted by 21st April 2016 for inclusion in a Level 4 and Level 5 group show that will run in May 2016.

Finished prints for this brief are not digital prints.

I need to think visually and explore both literal and lateral responses. Work with text and image, both combined and separate. Consider the various techniques and processes that are available to you and their suitability for conveying or re-enforcing the ideas that you are trying to communicate.

Research:

I have begun my research by going on to The Bank of England's website to see what information I could gather. The Bank of England has been issuing banknotes for over 300 years, where the notes have gone through continual changes.

Currently there are four different denominations of Bank of England notes in circulation.

Each bank note has security features to help identify genuine banknotes. It is a criminal offence to keep or pass on that you know to be counterfeit. Counterfeit notes must be taken to the police where they will be sent off for analysis.

Maintaining confidence in the currency is a key objective of the Bank of England.

General advice for checking for counterfeit notes:

• The feel of the paper
• Raised print
• Metallic thread
• Watermark
• The holographic strip on the £20 note.
• The motion thread on the £50 note.
• Ultra-violet feature
• Size

• Print quality
• Microlettering
• Hologram
• See-through register

Polymer Banknotes:

In 2013 it was announced the next £5 and £10 banknotes would be printed on polymer, which is a thin and flexible plastic material. There cleaner more secure and more durable than paper.

The new £5 and £10 notes will generally look the same but will be around 15% smaller. The new £5 note will be issued in the second half of 2016. It will feature Sir Winston Churchill and will be 125mm x 65mm. The new £10 note will be issued in the second half of 2017.

It will feature Jane Austen and will be 132mm x 69mm. 

Withdrawn Banknotes:

Below is a list of all banknotes withdrawn from circulation since 1988. 

All withdrawn Bank of England banknotes remain payable at face value for all time, which will be exchanged for new banknotes at the Bank of England in London.

Banknote Characters:

Characters have featured on the Bank of England notes since the 1970's celebrating individuals that have shaped British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society. 

Characters already announced for future notes:

• £5 - Sir Winston Churchill
• £10 - Jane Austin

Characters featured on current notes:

• £5 - Elizabeth Fry
• £10 - Charles Darwin
• £20 - Adam Smith
• £50 - Matthew Boulton and James Watt

Characters featured on previous notes:

• Charles Dickens (writer)
• Sir Edward Elgar (composer)
• Michael Faraday (scientist)
• Sir John Houblon (first Governor of the Bank of England)
• Sir Isaac Newton (scientist)
• Florence Nightingale (nursing)
• William Shakespeare (poet/playwright)
• George Stephenson (engineer)
• 1st Duke of Wellington (general/statesman)
• Sir Christopher Wren (architect)