OUGD505 - Studio Brief 01 - Research inside the British Museum (Money exhibition)

After going back home to London, I took the opportunity to go into the British Museum to look into the money exhibition. Here is a link with all the images that I collected put into one file. http://imgur.com/a/Bkwaa

The gallery was a display of money from prehistoric times to the present, some ageing back to 4000 years ago. For me this was the perfect stage to find out how money started and what influences might have influenced that country to create a banknote/coin. With everything advancing whether its thousands of years ago or today, the world is constantly changing as is money. Money has always been an important part of human societies. Looking at money it has given us the understanding of the history of the world. 

Even looking at some of the earliest coins and how they were made really does influence already what I could create for my brief. 
Looking at these coins you can already see how something iconic is already being printed onto these coins. These coins had a design on one side and the other side was marked with simple punches. I really like the simplicity of the design and how ancient these coins look. 



Even looking at one of the first machines to make coins was inspiring. This was a steel die and roller for making coins.







Although what I mainly came to see were the banknotes. As I saw these banknotes I noticed that the images were black and white whilst the borders around had a more subtle colour; much like my previous research. 
What I liked about these banknotes was how intricate the borders were whilst the note still had space around to work with. The image of the man who clearly was iconic to the banknote as he has a circular border around him. If I am going to use an iconic image I could make it black and white to make it relevant to past banknotes. 

These bank notes are very different and nothing that I expected to see being exhibited. Nonetheless, this Disney dollar note was one that stood out to me. After being brought up around Disney this was a banknote that had a lot of imagination and creativity. The mickey mouse figure in the middle has the positioning as if he is reaching out to you. 
As most of the banknotes that I saw previously had the iconic image as black and white and the borders as subtle colours, it was nice to see something different that I personally believe worked. Mickey the mouse is in vibrant colours making it more friendly whilst the 'Disney Dollars' type is an old western American typeface matching it to Disney. These Disney dollars could be used as payments in some Disney resorts. 
I also liked the Harry Potter coin and the Wile E. Coyote phone card. They both brought it in an element of fun that makes it more personal to the child. From looking at this research I can take forward the fun element and how everything is pretty much the opposite to an actual banknote which in my opinion makes it more intriguing. 

Korun banknotes came following the Second World War where the political and military influence of the Soviet Union led to the creation of number of communist states. These images were used to suggest progress, military strength and well-being. What I liked about these banknotes was that they were influenced by something. Therefore, showing how much of an influence money can be. I want to take forward the simplicity of each of these designs and how they were used to suggest a message. I also like the simplicity of the designs within;  '50' which is easily legible, as well as the simplicity of the images used. I also liked how they used one colour.