OUGD505: Studio Brief 1 - Exhibition Piece: Feedback and Evaluation

OUGD505: Studio Brief 1/ Licence to print money   

Exhibition Piece: Feedback and Evaluation 

It was identified through my research that the the best hope for tactile 'real' money to remain viable within society is for it to be used as a cultural exchange celebrating each nation to ensure its cultural heritage can be largely celebrated and continued. From this I established a concept of taking inspiration from the architecture of the exhibition space; a grade 2 listed brutalist building, Bank House, creating a cultural celebration of this brutalist movement within the aesthetic of the new bank note. This provides contextual relevance to the exhibition itself and applies the ecology of its surroundings to inform the aesthetic.

The design and development of the resolution was centred around this brutalist design taking inspiration from the form of the building with the use of the transparent windows that connote the unique shape of the building and the marbled stock informed by the physical building materials. Further brutalist design informs the geometric patterns on the reverse bank note inspired by key brutalist buildings paired with negative space to create a strong engaging focal point for the design. As well as aesthetically engaging the design is also fictional considering a host of issues that would come into play if considering the real-life validity of the design. The use of a braille translation and serial numbers provide contextual detailing within the banknote design and the large text placement ensures the values are easily identifiable with both typographic and numerical values clearly shown. 

This design transcends beyond the celebration of brutalist architecture as a means to evoking a sense of culture, the design uses a range of regional inspiration to further this sense of national pride. The use of the Yorkshire rose etched into the transparent windows creates clear reference to Yorkshire, paired with the colour scheme of Leeds to evoke a sense of regional pride within the banknote design and further relation to the ecology of the exhibition venue. I am pleased with the resolution of the design, the tactile nature of the screen printed resolution works effectively with the aesthetic of the design. The multiple elements within the banknote design pair well using a cohesive blend of paper and plastic to create an engaging resolution. The use of two different greys used within the exhibition mount helps explicitly highlight the transparent windows within the design which will engage the exhibition audience. Overall the design is bold and sits strongly within the mount to present my engaging representation on the future of the banknote. 

Engaging with feedback regarding this final design I received positive comments from students and tutors who were engaged by the informed use of materials and design decisions to create a highly refined engaging resolution to the brief. Comments included that they liked the research conclusion celebrating culture and the use of inspiration taken from the physical venue creates strong contextual links to the exhibition with the  use of colour and stock being appropriately informed to more subtly reflect these design inspirations. Tutors suggested that physically extending the series through digital mock ups would add further contextually as to how this concept would work as a full set to fully resolve the problems highlighted within the brief.