Have you thought about making your own banknote? Designing a banknote is like creating an artwork – with a certain number of guidelines to follow. Graphic designers must create banknotes with harmonious design and a clear and simple message, as a meaningful visual depiction of national and cultural identity. At the same time, they have to incorporate into its design a certain number of security and legal features.
Raised print, hologram, serial number, security thread, micro-perforations, colour-changing emerald number, microprint, incomplete see-through number, magnetic ink, ultraviolet ink, fluorescent fibres and other secret features... a banknote is a technological wonder which provides a daunting challenge to counterfeiters!
As you can see: banknote security is no joke!
This all means that banknotes are designed according to very strict guidelines. And yet these stringent specifications do not prevent illustrators and printers from showing creativeness and ingenuity.
After selecting the various security features, you will choose the illustrations next, positioning them to design the layout of your own banknote – which you will then be able to download.
This time, you’re the designer
Did you know?
On a banknote in euros, you will find its serial number along with the signature of the current President of the European Central Bank, the initials of the ECB (in five linguistic variants), the note’s year of copyright, the currency name (in both the Latin and the Greek alphabets), the note’s amount, a map of Europe and the twelve stars of the European flag... as well as a certain number of security features: the watermark, which you can see by holding the note against the light, is an image produced in the paper during the manufacturing process; the hologram is a three-dimensional image, which cannot be scanned, photographed or photocopied; and the metal or plastic security thread, which can be seen when held against the light, is embedded in the banknote paper.
Duration: 3’
Languages: French, English, Spanish
Who can play: everyone
Design: Banque de France / Cité de l’Économie
Production: Opixido
Published on 01 December 2020. Updated on 20 November 2023