The Dollar ReDe$ign Project is a fascinating examination of what US currency could look like if it underwent a significant redesign. Dozens of designs have been submitted; some that show a stunning grasp of design, many that incorporate elements of the history of the Dollar, and others that are funny, irreverent, and just plain silly. The design above is from Michael Tyznik:

Here are the main ideas in this design: Money and the color green are inextricably intertwined in American culture. I think it’d be a mistake to remove green as the primary color. Instead, each bill has a brightly-colored holographic strip embedded into it which contains the denomination. The width of this strip also changes with the denomination. This introduces an element which makes each bill extremely easy to identify. There is also braille denoting the bills’ denomination on the holographic strip.

In The Atlantic, designer Michael Bierut looks at the evolution of the dollar’s design, and compares it to currency designs from Europe, Japan, Switzerland, South Africa, and the UK.

On the NY Times “By Design” blog, Alison Arieff examines both the Dollar ReDe$ign Project, and the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative, a grassroots effort to push for a consistent U.S. design policy similar to those in several other countries (Japan has had one since 1956 and the UK since 1949). Arieff sums up the argument in economic terms:

A national design policy could also help to bolster American competitiveness at a time when we can use all the help we can get in that arena. We’re living in an age in which manufacturing is outsourced, design policy can enable the government to properly promote and measure the remaining competitive advantage of American goods and services: their design. As Tunstall puts it, “We need to capture design’s contributions to the economy. It’s all we have left.”

(Via Ministry of Type)