Currency Design - The 2146 Heritage Series
Project Breakdown:
1. Project Background
2. Project Goals
3. Target Audience
4. User Research
5. Design Goals
6. Design Challenges and Solutions
7. Design Output
"The Heritage" is a series of futuristic currency designs that I created for a school project. For this project, each student was tasked with designing currencies for a specific country, and I was assigned to design currencies for future Australia. To begin the design process, I first defined the project goals and identified the target audience. Then I conducted user research to identify design challenges and develop solutions. I also planned out my design methodology, which involved conducting research, creating mood boards, defining design concepts and elements, and producing final designs. In the following section, I will provide a detailed breakdown of each step.
01. Project Background
Due to severe climate change and rising sea levels, many life forms were wiped out in Australia in 2146. To ensure the continuation of mankind, Australians built domes across the ocean floor to live under the sea. Zoologists worked with engineers to create animal-inspired transportation such as maglev trains and submarines, and high-speed transport systems like maglev lines connected these habitats. To memorialise lost species, celebrate animal-inspired inventions, and showcase their integration into daily life, the Bank of Meldelaide released a new currency series called "The Heritage".
02. Project Goals
With Melbourne-Adelaide, Australia as its geographical reference, the design includes a set of currency (coins and notes), a bankcard, and an ID/C-MIST transport card. Moreover, a motion graphic poster has been created to provide a vivid depiction of life in the underwater city.
03. Target Audience
• Ranges in age from 15 to 75 years old
• Resides within the underwater cities of Meldelaide
• Possesses a strong interest in the latest technological advancements
• A frequent rider of the state-of-the-art transportation systems
• Demonstrates a passion for all kinds of animals and plants
• Maintains and shares the understanding of how biodiversity impacts technological innovation
04. User Research
After defining the project goals and target audience, I conducted research using questionnaires to find out the user's best needs. I then collected, aggregated and analysed the responses to pinpoint the design goals that would best address the pain points and needs of the target audience. Below are a few example questions and their corresponding responses.
05. Design Goals
06. Design Challenges and Solutions
After conducting research to identify design goals, challenges, and solutions, I began exploring Australia's native animals and animal-inspired innovations. Because "ocean" is a complementary subtheme besides "heritage", the design incorporates aquatic animals that inhabit waterside environments, such as kingfishers, as well as those that live underwater, like dolphins, or both, in this case, the platypuses. Some other marine-related elements were incorporated into the design as well, such as the ship's helm, which was a major inspiration for the coin's shape.
Another source of inspiration for the currency designs was the Chinese zodiac, also known as "Shengxiao." To make the currency even more unique, I came up with the idea of assigning a unique animal to each resident for identity verification purposes. This concept was eventually incorporated into the design of bank cards and ID/C-MIST cards.
To present each design and explain its functions and features in detail, I built a website to better demonstrate each product. Please click the button below to view my design results!