Dollar ReDe$ign Project

You sound and smell like another ObamaNoid trying to rebuild America... For other than the welfare slugs that are now being catered too, this country has worked just fine, that is until the Dumbing Down of America began... Shame on you!

What does this have to do with welfare, or the dumbing down of America?

Can we all just agree that Jack Flip's comment adds nothing to the conversation and delete it? Thanks. Anyway, these look really nice. I'm not opposed to change and I really like the way these look - I love all the color combinations, with the exception of the 200 (that light pink isn't quite working with the green for me), and i very much appreciate the bill of rights insight.

All that said, I like pennies and paper dollars :) Gimme a $1 bill and I'm sold on this one.

These look great, but Braille on currency doesn't really work. Some countries have adopted a standardized alternative that is much more useful for visually impaired people.

Michael, this is outstanding work - clearly quite a bit of thought has gone into your submission. I'm a bit unsure about the notched numbering, but everything else works brilliantly. Again, great work.

By notched numbering, are you talking about the numbers in the corner? They're a security feature. When you hold the bill to the light, the design on the reverse perfectly completes the number.

These look great, and I like the rationale behind most of what you did, but I am a bit disappointed in the removal of Alexander Hamilton from a bill. He was the first Secretary of the Treasury, after all.

Ah, thanks for the clarification, Michael - nice touch.

These are excellent. It has all the essentials of what an 'upgrade' (not an overhaul) to the bills should have - iconic green, american presidents, monuments, large/clear images, security designs, and clear typography. I do think that the added color, while necessary, could be tweaked a bit. Some are a bit too unrealistic. Also, I like the size of our current money. But other than that, fantastic job.

I was working on a version for the Dollar ReDe$ign project, which happened to be similar (but shittier) to yours and I'll probably stop now since you've designed a similar/better vision.

Love! want to see $1 and the colours run across in order of amount

I love these designs. I also am a firm believer that we should take a page from, Australia I believe, and use plastic bags and make our money from them. Recycling on a larger scale is good for the environment and I'd feel better about what's happening to all these friggin' plastic bags (plus the money wouldn't/couldn't tear).

Very nice, well executed work. I intend on researching why Braille doesn't work on paper currency (as Justin mentioned), but I applaud your approach to solving this issue, as non-access to the blind is one of the primary arguments against paper currency. I especially like the quotations section(s). That's a beautifully subtle way of reminding people how elegant and lucid America can be.

I like them a lot. I really like adding quotes from the Constitution/Bill of Rights. Money as educational tool. :)

You mean the US can have pretty money, too? God I hope they use these! Our money is HIDEOUS! Look at the Swiss, their currency is extremely secure and very, very pretty.

While these are aesthetically pleasing, I have to wonder about their usability. Fanning these denominations out in a wallet for instance, wouldn't yield a way to see how much each bill is worth. While our current bills may not be pretty, the location of important information (such as the value in each corner) is essential to the way we handle our money.

Overall, I like the design a lot. I especially like adding the text from the bill of rights, even though I might vary that a bit to include other bits of relevant text, say maybe including a piece of the Gettysburg address on the back of the bill with Lincoln on it. Just two things: (1) the dollar bill will never go away in the States. They've tried several times with dollar coins, but they don't catch on. Therefore, a dollar bill design would be nice to see. (2) I'd keep the presidents aligned with the bills they're on now. People are used to them and seeing them on other bills would be greatly disconcerting. It would be interesting to decide who to put on the $200 bill if we kept that, wouldn't it?

First impressions were the Euro or the new Scottish Sterling notes. I like the idea, simple elegant and straight to the point. The current Dollar and most currencies has a lot of distractions.

I like it

how is the bill of rights more important than the constitution itself? Also, i would think about designing the coins to be paper, as i think that would be cheaper than pressing more metal. Also, on a personal note, I kind of like "e pluribus unum" and "in God we trust" to show up somewhere on the bills as well.

Beautifully done. I especially like the colored strip that displays the denomination. And the shade of green used in the background pays visual homage to today's bills.

Really, really beautiful! I especially love showcasing more boldly the possibilities with modern printing (sigh) that sure, could have been showcased 20 years ago... but (meh).

Now: can we get a dead chick of color (Harriet Tubman?) to contrast all the dead white dudes, as well?

Can we ban "Jack Flip" from the internet? I think he might be missing a chromosome or three.

I love these concepts and really wish American currency would incorporate some of these ideas.

@nina alter:

Yes, let's throw a female African American on there purely on the basis of her race/gender instead of the scale of her contribution to America. This devalues her contribution to our society and others.

When/if Obama makes an impact on the scale of the current Presidents displayed on our bills, we will have a person of color (finally). But do not undervalue the contribution of those who adorn our money simply to fit some ideal of racial and gender equality, this will happen in due time as the ethnic and gender ratios in our government shift on their own.

Absolutely beautiful. Is the intention to be bleeding edge like that? Certainly is a striking look.

And adding the Bill of Rights....that is GENIUS.

I really wish the U.S. government would get on the stick and get bills over $100. Unfortunately, since our government's mentality is that only drug dealers use cash anymore, I don't see it happening.

These look great! And good call on losing the dollar bill in favor of coins - much cheaper in the long run. One other thing to consider, while thinking about making them plastic like Aussie currency - the AUS$ bills vary in physical size based on denomination, making it very easy to tell them apart ...

Nice designs.... but we can't get rid of pennies without forcing price controls on ALL retailers in this country (what do you do when your purchase comes up to $3.43? Without pennies, somebody's gotta eat that odd change).
Also, the biggest thing missing is the weirdo Masonic/Illuminati symbols... what are the conspiracy theorists supposed to speculate about without them? Where are the New World Orderists supposed to get their instructions from?

Gorgeous designs. I really love how you've maintained many of the signature design features (green, the Presidents) and added so much more. I especially love the inclusion of the Bill of Rights.

I love the first comment. How nonsensical and random!

In general, these are pretty cool designs - the keep the spirit of the greenback while adding some more modern security elements. I agree with some of the other commenters, however, that their usability isn't great. Although the colors help distinguish the different denominations, the bills aren't distinct enough in their corners.

@jonponder Coins are actually much less expensive than paper bills because their lifespan is so much longer - the GAO estimated annual budgetary savings of $500M if we were able to switch to dollar coins instead of dollar bills.

Great ideas, but I am not a fan of the execution. Althought I like the clean design, by opting for no borders and decentralized layout the money loses its identity as dollar, but becomes a colorless european currency. The braile is not very pratical and could be exchanged for texturized stripes that could be easily learned. I personnaly am not a fan of the photos in place of illustrations of the buildings.

But then this is a presentation of concepts, and the main ideas: bill of rights and colored stripes are really interesting.

Congrats

Very good, clean designs. I have no problems with the designs of the color stripes as is. I would wonder, though, how these stand up to color blindness tests.

The phrase "In God we trust" is required by US Law. That doesn't mean you can't be creative with it; look how it was done with the new dollar coins.

Coins last at least (if I remember correctly) about 5 times longer and aren't that much more expensive to mint. The dollar and two dollar coin would gain acceptance if they stopped printing dollar coins. There would be grumbling for a while, but we would get over it. Having been to Canada enough times, I've decided I prefer the coins to the paper. I think it only works when you have the $1 and $2 coins, though.

While including something other than Dead White Men would could be a good thing, I see advantages with only using Dead Presidents on money: politics. Yes, we would lose Franklin, but the advantages are great. I'd go so far as to say to change the law to require a person to be dead for at least 50 years--maybe even 100 years. (Of course, that would prevent us from using Taft--the largest of US Presidents--on the $500 bill.)

Quotes from the Constitution are great. For one, we need to be reminded of it more. For another, politics.

Could we make pennies out of plastic for less than the coins cost to make?

I like the color-coded idea.

I'm glad to see 'In God we Trust' isn't on this design. Although it would be funny to see it written next to the first amendment...

Fantastic job! Nice to see you made the bills accessible to the sight-impaired. Very important! I echo everybody's thoughts about Australia's money.

I'd suggest a $5 coin as well, and go ahead and leave some overlap between currency and coins there.

I agree we should ditch the penny. It's a huge waste. No, macseann, it's not mandating price controls. Retailers can round. Guess what, they already do. Do you think tax always comes out to the exact penny? Seriously, we wouldn't be the first country to ditch the penny.

Re: Jack Flip

Uh, what? The dude's just presenting some design ideas. He's not undermining anything or doing anything bad. Jeeze. Shame on you for being such a douche bag. People can't do anything without being accused of undermining the country these days.

I really like the new design ideas, but I am also saddened by the removal of Hamilton from the currency. If the trend was to keep just US Presidents, then Franklin should also be removed. It can be argued that both men greatly shaped the country in the founding years.

The removal of "In God we Trust" is long overdue. The inclusion of the Bill of Rights is welcomed because currency can be more than a means to an end, it can also be a symbol of our country, our values and our history.

Very nice job.

NICE Michael. I'm glad someone is thinking about this. I'd like to see your idea also for the coins (if it's possible to present).

Not sure about the idea about just having politicians/presidents on the money. They have been many great moral leaders (e.g. Martin Luther King) who have shaped our country but have had nothing to do with political office.

Also, as the economy tanks, and if the dollar were to fall precipitously in value, I'd like to see what your idea is about alternative temporary currencies.

I love your idea and I like the design of the bills.

New USD designs - visually elegant, distinguishable, and modern. Love this.

I would like to see the presidents and DC taken down a notch. We should do as other countries such as Holland and Australia have done: honor men and women who have done great things for the country in all areas of life. These examples are just reorganizations of the material, not new ideas. I am not impressed. We need new ideas, not rearrangements of the same old thing. This is just an aesthetic change, but we need a total cultural shift in our “polis” mentality. America is more than its presidents and Washington, DC.

— Chris

@jonponder: because coins are so much more durable, the time they last more than makes up for the extra cost.

The jarring thing to me is that the presidents and monuments don't match with current usage. Just like keeping the bills green, having Lincoln on the 5 and Franklin on the 100 are traditions that can't be changed willy-nilly without harming the perceived stability of the currency. Keeping some things the same balances the radical parts of the design change. If you had some reason to change the persons and monuments, like changing replacing Eisenhower with S.B.Anthony on the dollar coin to represent women, or putting the Grand Canyon or Old Faithful instead of the the Capitol to emphasize the land rather than government, it might be justified, but just shuffling buildings and people is a bad idea.

@John Doe:

Can you tell me the great impact of Andrew Jackson on American history? Something positive that makes him greater than every woman and person of color?

Can't wait to lay my hands on these dollars :) The concept and typography used go hand-in-hand with the traditional design of the old dollar bills!

Impressive! Keep this project going. Change CAN happen!

Stefan from Malta!

Why did you take "In God We Trust" off?

Ethan: perhaps because the State and Church are meant to be kept separate? Possibly because it's finally time to admit that there are multiple gods (and often no gods) worshipped by the American population as a whole.

Love the concept. Agree with those who say to keep Hamilton -- tradition is important in money -- and retain denominations in more corners, for ease of reading stacks.

The bill of rights is a nice touch. It could also take the form of a collectible series: each year a different amendment could appear on a bill. (And the larger the bill, the more the treasury makes fro these being collected out of circulation.) Though, the 9th and 10th amendments should go on a $100,000 note -- the average citizen is about as likely to see such a note as to encounter the application of those quaint 'reserved-powers-and-rights' ideas in modern governance.

So, how was your last trip to Canada then - these designs looking strangely familiar...

Wonderful designs... and I personally don't believe that "In God We Trust" does not belong on our money, or anywhere government-endorsed for the matter. Not every citizen trusts in "god".

Wonderful designs... and I personally believe that "In God We Trust" does not belong on our money, or anywhere government-endorsed for the matter. Not every citizen trusts in "god".

(Edited first post)

WTF is wrong with our current monetary pictures. Seems like you have far too much time on your hands. Do yourself a favor move to some unstable african or asian country that requires it cash to be changed every five years. You may have some work there.

Beautiful effort. I'd love it and be proud if these were adopted by the US Treasury.

Why not make the strip for each denomination a different colour - this would make it very easy to pick out notes of a particular denomination.

I'm not exactly sure how these are more similar to Canadian money than they are to any other currency.

@ ethan: "In God We Trust" was replaced by the first amendment, which to my mind implies that "In God We Trust" should not be allowed to be on currency. The separation of church and state expressly prohibits the government endorsing a certain group of religions (monotheistic ones) on money.

Good job Michael, now I know your secret! There can be only one!

@ jonponder: I think the Bill of Rights is more important than the text of the Constitution for citizens to know because it explains what protections citizens have from and by their government, whereas the Constitution explains particulars of how the government works.

Paper money in low denominations is actually more expensive than coins because it has to be replaced so often. A dollar bill costs 4.2¢ to make, and has to be replaced every two years. A dollar coin costs 12¢ to make, but lasts 30 years.

I like your designs a lot!

These are very pretty.

My one gripe is that there is insufficient contrast between the light denomination and its background stripe, especially on the $100 bill.

It's important to remember that while there are certainly many blind Americans, there are many more visually-impaired Americans. Large, high-contrast text is important for that reason. I'd also double-check with a red-blue colorblind person.

It would be mean to stamp false denominations in braille onto bills. Just sayin'.

THERE IS NO $1 OMG OMG OM WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!!! god damnet no body is going to even need it so w/e, imo they need to focus on the change, that's all we're going to have soon enough. fucking socialists

I can't imagine myself tossing coins at strippers any time soon.
FAIL.

you know Boraxo Yo Momma want's to take strippers away from you Serbian Guy? It offends Hitlery that there are better women out there so like everything else, we must destroy them before bill sleeps with them!

zzzzzzzzz

Check out the Liberty Bill Act at http://hcps2.hanover.k12.va.us/lms/liberty%20bill/libbill.htm

Noticed there's no $1 design. Is the creator advocating a British system where $1 and $2 would be coins?

This may have already be mentioned, I couldn't be bothered to read every comment. I think the different notes should be different sizes. Although Braille is used on the design, it may be a lot easier for someone to use the note on the physical size. I no the £50 is massive and easily distinguishable between the other denominations before you even read them.

These are great looking. I would probably use cash more if US currency looked like this.

Before you all set out to do away with "In God We Trust," remember the words of our founding fathers, such as these from John Adams/John Hancock...

"We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus"...

...and these from John Adams...

"“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God...[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty”...

and these from Benjamin Franklin...

“God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”

Whether you believe in the God these men spoke of is irrelevant. In keeping alive the beliefs and traditions of our country's founders, it is necessary to retain the phrase that was so true to them, "In God We Trust."

The First Amendment states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

"In God We Trust" is not a law that establishes religion, nor does it prevent people from exercising as they please. It does not abridge freedom of speech, of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government. So, Matt, please enlighten me as to how you could possibly have arrived ath the conclusion that the First Amendment "does away with" the phrase, "In God We Trust?"

Omitting "In God We Trust" is personal bias on your part and misrepresents what the men who founded this country believed in. This is my primary greviance with what you have created. Remove your personal agenda, and you might have some credibility.

My apologies. I am speaking to Mike, not Matt.

Beautiful designs, I really hope that were there a radical change in our currency that they would use modern design cues such as these.

There's a reason that the founding fathers kept these ideas in their personal writings and out of the law. The Declaration of Independence, which does mention God, is not law. The Constitution has no mention of God, and "In God We Trust" did not appear on coins until 1864 and on banknotes until 1957. If the founding fathers did not deem it necessary to include God on official government documents, then it is hardly necessary to keep it on currency to "keep their traditions alive." Congress made a law saying "In God We Trust" is our national motto and must be printed on currency. This is tantamount to establishing monotheism as our national religion or at least excluding polytheism and atheism, which I believe goes against the founding fathers' precedent of not including religion in the law.

I love this idea, it's looks great. I just have a few thoughts:
1. The numbers on the top corner that are security features. Unless these aren't meant to be legible, it's fine but if it's there for people to read, then it's not so legible. I like the idea of it being completed in the light. Very cool.

2. The colour stripes, I get the idea of it but some feels out of sync with the rest of the design. I like the '200' because of the pastel colour, it flows nicely with the rest of the money. The others like the blue are just too saturated for me and breaks the flow of the design. Maybe that's intentional but I'm not digging that. I'm also worried that someone can spot it a block away and realize I have a 20 on me. However, I do notice that the higher value notes have pastel colours while the lower value has the saturated colour. Is this intentional? If it is, that's smart cuz I won't want my $200 to stick out like a sore thumb.

Lovely work.

I wish this was used. I always hated how boring our money looked compared to Europe's. And the Braille is a great idea.

really, this is beautiful. i could say more, but that is my initial reaction.

Gorgeous attention to detail. Love it.

Michael Tyznik said it right. Having "In God We Trust" on money not only spits in the face of the first amendment, but also excludes non-Christian Americans. Money is used by everyone, so it should not speak to any one specific group. Regardless of whatever faiths our founding fathers may have had, not only do we no longer live in those times, but we specifically have an amendment to protect our beliefs (or lack thereof). They came to this country to escape religious persecution, and here we are today persecuting everyone who's not Christian. If you want to stay true to what they believed in, then it's imperative that we remove "In God We Trust" from our money. If you don't want to look like a "bleeding-heart liberal" then isn't E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) more inclusive to EVERYONE in America?

what a f'n waste of space & time.

These are really cool. I'd be nice to be able to quickly identify the denomination you want and this way the bills don't end up looking like monopoly money

Well, CJ, I'm not sure what persecution you are enduring for your belief in "nothing," but I would love to hear your explanation. I also think you have misunderstood the design of the First Amendment. The intent was never to barr religious thought from entering the public arena, but rather to prevent the implementation of a national religion (i.e. the Church of England).

It isn't very tolerant or inclusive of you to want Christianity removed from all facets of public society. And if, in fact, what you want portrayed is this "belief in nothing" that you subscribe to, then you are simply recommending another ideology (albeit a comical one). Before you try to apply a part to the whole (imply that your beliefs are shared by the majority of Americans), I encourage you to research the numerous surveys that show that the overwhelming majority of Americans identify themselves as being "Christian." And so long as you are sold of your convictions, you may want to be concerned about the fact that we use a Bible to swear in our leaders; we say "so help me God" when we testify in a court of law; and we reference God in our National Anthem. You should also ask Muslims and Hindus whether or not they believe that our nation is a "Christian" nation.

No motto is above reproach. But to the ever important majority in this country, "In God We Trust" is a motto they are proud of, and it is a motto that should be displayed as often as possible.

And CJ, your notion that, because we no longer live in the times of our forefathers, we should pay no mind to their beliefs, is nothing short of ignorance. Shame on you for caring so little about the foundation that made it possible for you to run your mouth so wrecklessly.

i notice a few people mentioned Ben Franklin. And seriously Ben Franklin wasn't a President. there is no reason why he shouldn't remain. Then we could even get Frederick Douglas on there. And maybe one day, Bruce Lee.

ok, I was kidding about Bruce Lee(kind of) but not the rest of the comment

it's a nice design. though I doubt the very popular dollar bill design as it is will be replaced in the near future. good luck anyway.

Fantastic work here, vastly better than our current crop of Disneyland tokens and rainbow Monopoly money. You indeed have captured the essentials (green + presidents) which make American money iconic, but the addition of the Bill of Rights is as brilliant as it is novel! Your work is far superior to that of the official designers at the Mint. Well done!

The timing however, could be better. With the combined risks of China refusing to buy Treasury bond debt and hyperinflation ready to rear its head thanks to unprecedented borrowing with no plan to ever repay, no demonination less than 1,000 will be practical in a couple years' time. Might want to get cracking on the $10,000 and 100,000 bill designs, mate.

While these are compelling visual designs, I'd like to see the text and imagery on that more accurately reflect what these are. Money, in the U.S., is NOT issued by the government. In fact, it has almost nothing to do with the federal government or the U.S. treasury.

What you're designing are Federal Reserve Notes, issued by the private Federal Reserve system. True, the government passes legal tender laws forcing citizens to accept these pieces of paper as "legal tender for all debts, public and private". However, Federal Reserve Notes, long ago replaced U.S. Notes issued by the Treasury Department.

Grand imagery of American presidents and text from important documents serves as nice propaganda to make people think that these pieces of paper have some tie to our government, instead of a private, for-profit, central bank.

More appropriate imagery might be Alan Greenspan or Ben Bernanke.

For text, I recommend a quote from Woodrow Wilson, lamenting in his later days of signing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913:

""I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."
-Woodrow Wilson

These are some interesting ideas but I would like to see some traditional elements incorporated. I like the braille indicators for impaired, some of the denominations values seem a little washed out. I like the simplicity of these but I think having more illustrated elements pulled from the original documents would be nice. http://www.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/70124/yen_qjgenth.jpg

Even Yen has a lot of the facets you are trying to combine, while maintaining the foundational identity of the country, its leadership and rich history.

The only things that really stand out to me that I would like to change are; Denomination Font and decoration, use illustrations for the national monuments and landmarks instead of photographs, bring back some of the "all seeing eye" or other elements that relate to our foundational identity.

I like revision, but I think it is important to show more appreciation for the source material. Excellent work though. It is really inspired.

That $50 looks so very nice.

Mike, the desire to remove 'In God We Trust' from our currency has nothing to do with disliking christianity or attempting to remove religion from public society. And appealing to the founding fathers for religious direction is a zero-sum game considering every pro-religion quote can easily be counted by an equally vitriolic denouncement.

What is undeniable is the deliberate lack of religious endorsement or even reference in the documents this country was based on. This country was designed not to be "an [insert religion] nation" but an areligious nation, where any belief can both be practiced freely, and legally protected from discrimination.

Removing God's name-drop on the dollar would merely be rectifying it's superfluous addition in reaction to our crusade against those godless communists.

Mike, I support you all the way! Having a belief in "nothing" must make it pretty easy to stand up for "nothing".

CJ, I'm not sure how placing the National Motto of "In God We Trust" on our money "spits in the face of the first amendment, but also excludes non-Christian Americans". Printing "In God We Trust" on currency does no more to establish religion mandated by the government than taking it off would do away with religious beliefs.

There are lots of religions who have a God, not just Christians. What is Allah to some? And Buddah to others? I'd guess those who call them God are not Christians, yet they still have a God in which they trust. If your own personal religion is "nothing" may I point out that SOMETHING is your God, probably the money in your wallet. You don't have to practice any religion to have a God.

Your comment about our founding fathers coming "to this country to escape religious persecution, and here we are today persecuting everyone who's not Christian" are quite off-base. It seems to me those who are quick to harass others based on religious beliefs take advantage of the tolerance some who follow Christ have and incessantly persecute them even more so.

Eric:

I do not believe that the purpose of our founders was to create an areligious nation. Your argument fails to address the reasons why public officials sware on the Bible, why we say "so help me God" in a court of law, why we (up until recently) kept the 10 commandments in the courtroom, and (up until the mid 20th century) prayed in school.

One logical, and I believe correct, explanation is that our forefathers sought to avoid a mandated religion similar to what they experienced with the Church of England. Creating an areligious nation would be as difficult as creating an "a-opinionated" nation. Religious belief, like other ideologies, permeate everything we do.

I don't like how the color stripe is sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right - when flipping through your wallet, it would be a lot easier to identify money if it were always on the same side.

Beautiful designs! You've done a fantastic job. I love the various design elements you've introduced. Personally, I would love to see "In God We Trust" printed on there somewhere. I've read all the comments, and the only thing I have to add is that this country was founded on Christian beliefs and our laws were written based on God's laws. Those who live here are not forced in any way to believe in God (as evidenced by the First Amendment), but they are still required to abide by the laws that have been put in place, regardless of the faith those laws were based on. I don't believe the imprint on currency commits one to a particular faith or denigrates other faiths, it simply makes a statement about the country's culture.

@mike: None of your examples is a compelling argument. As for the swearing in on the Bible, that is actually not a law anywhere. People can choose not to be sworn in on the Bible, and can choose not to say "so help me God." They cannot choose to use money which does not say "In God We Trust." Displaying the 10 Commandments in a courtroom was ruled to be unconstitutional under the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Praying in school is held to be unconstitutional for the same reason. It goes to show that even though public opinion may be in favor of something, that doesn't necessarily make it legal or make it mesh with what the founding fathers put in the Constitution. The founding fathers did not seek to make an areligious nation, they sought to make an areligious government that would not interfere with private beliefs.

@cfmommee: I would contend that believing in the same thing that the majority of your peers believe makes it pretty easy to stand up for that belief. You would do well to do some research on this topic before you argue it. Buddha is not a god, simply a spiritual leader. Buddhists do not believe in "one god" as Muslims, Jews, and Christians do. I take offense in your telling me what I believe. I don't have to have a "god" as you say. You say "you don't have to practice any religion to have a God." I disagree. You don't have to practice an _organized_ religion to have a God, but God is an inherently religious belief. Then again, you don't have to believe in God to be religious: see Buddhists and pagans and Hindus, for that matter. I disagree with CJ that non-Christians are necessarily being persecuted (though I might tend to think Muslims specifically are), but I do think society holds discriminatory views towards those who are non-Christian, and especially atheists.

I guess it would be prudent to mention that I was against the inclusion of this motto on currency even when I was a Catholic.

@ sherry: Even if this country was founded on Christian beliefs (although many of the founding fathers were actually deists), they did a heck of a job abstaining from including Christian references or beliefs in the laws they created. This is as good of evidence as any to me that although this is a majority-Christian nation, it was not intended to be run by Christian beliefs.

Looks like Windows Vista for me.

These look good!

US currency already includes non-presidential members. Maybe we don't see hundred-dollar bills enough to remember that Ben Franklin occupies that one. So the idea that the inclusion of a president is somehow intrinsic is flawed from the get-go.

No thanks. These look really European.
I don't want euros or money that looks like euros.
America deserves better.

@Michael Tyznik: I think you are missing context in your little history lesson. The argument works great by todays way of thinking but back then it was very different. It was all about being christian and having freedom (to be christian even). I believe your argument falls into the same line of thinking that now has Abe Lincoln being a racist. It is a poorly constructed view of history pushed on us by a flawed and very biased education system.

The bills themselves look nice. But they're not anywhere near what they should be. Please do some research into past American currency ... particularly the silver certificates of the latter 19th century. The level of detail and gloriousness of the artwork is deeply moving, and only fitting for the greatest free republic in the history of mankind.

A few examples:
http://www.usrarecurrency.com/1896$5SilverCertificateFR268EducationalSn7423707.htm

http://www.usrarecurrency.com/1896$2SilverCertificateFR247CGAGradedEF45Sn50009.htm

Also research the Coinage Act of 1792,the only law written by the founders and signed by George Washington that specifies the design of American money. It specifically calls for an "impression emblematic of liberty", and the word "LIBERTY". The founders abhorred the idea of any man's face being on the coin of the realm.

So I would challenge you to do some silver certificates instead of Federal Reserve Notes. You'll have to change the wording, so they're valid deposit certificates, and replace the faces of politicians with "impressions emblematic of liberty" out of respect for the founders intent. But you do good work, and I bet you could come up with something nice.

I love it. And it's people like Jack Flip that keep this country down. An unwillingness to change things is why we are in the shape we are in now. Change happens and it needs to, otherwise we'd still be wearing loin cloths and throwing spears at each other (of course now we shoot bullets instead, but you get the idea).

Looks to much like canadian money.

Love it! Can you re-order the images to flip same bill front, back then next bill?
Also, be sure that when you get hired to make the new $1 coin, that it is more like the British Pound Sterling than the quarter (whomever thought of that one should be shot)

All this is trying to show is that the word "God" has been removed. LOL oh well it won't happen :) Nice try though.

I quite like the look of these notes. I think money needs to somehow tell an historical story of famed figures that have been seen to shape the nation for the better. However that is my take being an Australian.

Here in Australia we dumped our 1 and 2 cent coins around 1991 and have been using rounding up and down to the nearest five or ten ever since.

I like having one and two dollar coins however in a tipping culture like America this would prove rather difficult in my books. I remember standing at a bar many a time waving a dollar bill to get faster service. I still don't get tipping as a 'done' thing rather than optional when service truly inspires you to hand over your hard earned money.

My only comments on the notes
* The length of the note can help in denomination differentiation. Changing the height means that some notes hang out of a wallet and that sucks.
* Braille would likely only work on plastic but I don't know how long it would stand up to wear-and-tear, even if plastic doesn't really tear.
* The coloured stripe is nice. I think when it gets small like on the $5 note the proportion starts to look odd though. Perhaps writing the numerical denomination with a 90deg counter-clockwise turn would allow the stripe to retain a consistent width.

Awesome job.

During their lifetime the Founders excluded the international banking cartel in both word and deed. The US Constitution was never amended to legalize fractional reserve banking, to force people to accept private currency or unaccounted expenditures. The Federal Reserve are illegal counterfeiters.

We should have a currency based on energy and demand redeemable.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Constitution for the United States of America

Article 1

Section 9
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

Section 10
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_Note

@Sherry:

This country was NOT founded on Christian beliefs (except perhaps the lack of women's rights, the institution of slavery and subjugation of indigenous peoples), nor are our laws in any way shape or form based on The Bible.

You're obviously suffering from an "education" in the revisionist history Christians have foisted on us for the past 150 years.

And to remove any doubt that our laws are based on the ten commandments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxwzic3gbgU

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."
--Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823

"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."
--Thomas Jefferson

"We discover in the gospels a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication ."
--Thomas Jefferson

"often said in my hearing, though very sorrowfully, of course, that while Washington was very deferential to religion and its ceremonies, like nearly all the founders of the Republic, he was not a Christian, but a Deist."
-- Presbyterian minister, Arthur B. Bradford

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."
--Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason, 1794

"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."
--James Madison

"Lighthouses are more useful than churches."
--Benjamin Franklin

"...Some books against Deism fell into my hands... It happened that they wrought an effect on my quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist."
--Benjamin Franklin

"the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
- From the Treaty of Tripoly

Our founding fathers were Deists. A popular misconception of Deism is that it involves the worship of the same god as Christians follow. It doesn't. The god of Deism is more or less a natural force who brought things into being and then either perished or lost interest or maybe doesn't have the capacity for management. Either way, he's not around, doesn't care, and did not send his son. He's not the Christian god and pious Christians of the time considered Deists to be atheists. Many would still agree. At any rate, they most definitely were NOT Christians and did not create a Christian nation.

Fuck these new bills! Looks like some cheap generic version of the Euro... oh wait, it is! I think it's called the Amero, ohhhhh shit! Damn this country licks balls now... happens when the political leaders are bunch of cowards who say they love and will serve their country by avoiding their military service, hehe.

About Christianity, every modern slave person praising under it has been fooled anyways. Though I pity them, it's up to them to become aware of logical reasoning (abstract quote from George Carlin yes-sir). Besides ain't nobody a real Christian,... what you got Protestants, Catholics, Lutherans, etc. I mean, WTF! Give it up and move on to real understanding of our current reality!

SITTING HERE TRYING TO VISUALIZE THE PROBLEMS STRIPPERS ARE GONNA HAVE WITH THE COINS.LOL,BUT HONESTLY INSTEAD OF SPENDING MILLIONS TO REDESIGN ...SPEND THE MONEY ON OUR KIDS ,HEALTH CARE, THE HOMELESS,GET REAL THIS IS COMPLETLY WASTEFUL CONSIDERING THE STATE OF THE UNION ..BUT WHAT DO I KNOW IM JUST LOWER MIDDLE CLASS TRASH

Bless your efforts. It would be wonderful if paper currency was actually "money", because your designs would contribute a positive message into the mindset of every individual who came in contact with it. It would also be wonderful if we were actually under the "dejure" government instead of the "defacto" government, because the constitutional implementations would apply to the hear and now. It would also be wonderful if the Federal Reserve Notes were actually payment for goods and services instead of promissary notes, which are nothing more then promises to pay. Beyond that, it would be fantabulous if the Federal Reserve Bank was a government institution instead of a private monopoly of a group of individuals who have never been audited and have designed a ingenious plan to enslave everyone. I applaud your design because it is integral, creative and extremely positive......the only problem is that it is designed for the wrong element. Congress was given the power to coin money, not to print it, so with that being said, every bill that we pass for goods and services is actually counterfeit and we have been manipulated into believing that green paper is valuable. The definition of "Dollar" means gold/silver coin, not paper with colors. So, if you want to implement a mechanism of Truth back into this land, please design a divinely inspired set of coins and help spread awareness regarding the value-less green backs fraudulently known as "money". Blessings.

@History Guy: Yes! All this bickering about the "God" text is meaningless - such a waste of time. Few people even understand what money is, where it comes from, or how it is created. Like I said above, this design (as with the current design) perpetuate the myth that Federal Reserve Notes are somehow connected with the Federal Government.

i like them

i believe this is just one of the stepping stones america needs to help update our aging nation im 21 one years old and our currency system needs an update it hasn't had the slightest change since we dropped the Silver and gold notes of the 20th century minus of course the costly dollar coins that have been released thru out the years "ie, the susan B eisenhower and a few others" and to the person calling people obamanoids ...our country hasn't worked right in a long time and having our youngest president since kennedy and he is trying to usher in a new age in america since you know it is 2009 and there has been a real polacy change since Regan. lets face it there are people in congress that still hold the same views they did back in the 1940s and 1950s and a whole lot has changed since then . heck the entire world is different and america needs a new younger face on politics if it is ever going to last another 100 years. oh and one last thing...GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MONEY EXCEPT WHEN YOUR AT THE RACE TRACK who shouldnt be on any of it for we are not the god fearing nation we were 50 years ago

Like with the Euro: make the bill bigger/smaller (and a little heavier/lighter) when it's of more/less worth.
That way you 'feel' how much you're holding.

Interesting designs which look very similar to certain foreign currencies. One factor to consider is the ease of counterfeiting. It is not commonly known that Foriegn governments are the greatest counterfeiters of US currency. If the designs are too easy to reproduce the problem of counterfeiting escalates tenfold.

Interesting concepts. I'm not sure I like all of the moving people around on the various bills. Since your doing away with the $1 bill why not just put George Washington on your new $200 bill instead of shifting all of the other people around. (IE not moving Abe to $10, etc) So much vernacular/slang exists around currency and who is on each particular bill. If the "dead president" on the bill changed, it would greatly confuse the populous.

Generally, I like what you've done, but the idea of presidents being on money is not intrinsic. Until the 1900s it was avoided. If we got rid of the presidents I don't think people would miss them.

Besides, if it's all about the Benjamins, he wasn't even a president!

I think its pretty.

Very ho-hum. Google "United State Notes" if you want to see some rich and interesting designs that the public would really appreciate seeing again.

great work. looking pretty solid.

Very nice work. This is a thoughtful and well designed submission which retains the spirit of our current currency while providing accessibility improvements, such as the braille, and security features. I also like the idea of including text from our founding documents on the bills. There is a certain richness to that.

While I could see a legitimate argument for eliminating the penny, there needs to be a dollar bill. They are far too useful in too many applications to eliminate (getting quarters for laundry, buying a cup of coffee on the way to work, strip clubs [just teasing folks] and no one wants to walk around with a pocket full of heavy coins.

I live in NYC and when you purchase a Metrocard using cash from one of the vending machines at the subway station, the change you are returned is dollar coins. It's somewhat irritating to get a pocketful of those things in the event that you have to purchase a single $2 ride using a $20 bill. Food for thought.

I must say that although it is clear lot's of work and thought has gone into this change in the face of American currency, sometimes "Change" is simply change for the sake of change. It serves no real purpose. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that "cooler" more hip money is really going to fix this economy or boost anything for that matter. Yes it could be argued that "greener" money like that of Australia , would be a valuable change, but aside from that, all the rest would involve more government spending, that this country does not need to be indebted to right now. The fact is, changing appearances does nothing but cover up what mire lies beneath. That is true of all make overs. If you do not fix the intrinsic problems we have in our economy and curtail government spending as well as federal involvement in our lives, industry, and health care, no amount of pretty art work and colors will do the job. Let's start focusing on what those bill of right's and constitutional law really are about and what they meant when they were written. That is where you will find the strength and the answers for fixing broken American dreams. It's more about looking to our selves and our community to build and prosper, no amount of government dole, or pseudo European modeling is going to be the answer. Europe is where "We the People" originally got our start, with no intent of going back, hence we became America land of the free, these days I fear we have lost sight of who we were and how we came to be. We need to get back to basics, and start looking at the the type of characteristics that helped make this country great for 200 plus years, more family, more human value, paying for life with your hard earned money, not credit. Just take a look back at your grandparents ideals, and tailor them to modern life. We need to start this rebuild from the beginning, start to repair the great fabric that is America. Learning from our history, instead of deleting it. Being proud of America and her people, where she came from and where she's going. Let's stop the apologies and the makeovers, We have done more for this world than any other country to date, the country built by dissenters who turned 13 little colonies into a great union. Our currency simply and elegantly depicts this, America, in God We trust!!!!!

Good work, Michael. I really like your designs; the stronger the strength of colour in the coloured strip, the better, and this is particularly evident in the design of the $10 note. The dollar needs strength - both in a financial sense and in terms of its presence, and the latter can be done through effective use of colour...bold is best.

I thought that the weaker designs were the $100 & $200 note, but this view is probably weighted by your use of pale colours.

Good work,

Leo.

Beautiful. If only.

These look nice, Michael, but what do you have against Hamilton? He doesn't deserve to be removed from US currency. If I were to remove anyone, I would get the racist drunken half-literate fool Jackson off the twenty.

Why limit it to presidents? There have been many people who were not presidents who made very important contributions to America. I also disagree with keeping the bills so green. We can definitely use some more color in them, not just in a strip. The braille is a great idea.

I think this is by far the best submission yet, but I think we should not keep the same people and monuments on the currency. I think we need to represent the country's more recent and diverse history (instead of just the early years and only white, male politicians).

We should put people like Harriet Tubman, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr., Helen Keller, Susan B. Anthony, Rachel Carson, etc. on our currency.

And in addition to people we could also put things like the Liberty Bell, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Space Shuttle, the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, Soldiers (representing support for our troops), the Hollywood sign (a symbol of our successful film industry), and other symbols of American greatness.

The current banknotes do not represent the full history of this country and should be completely redesigned to show a more of it.

Seems important to keep the portraits matched to the current denominations in any redesign: it would be a help to people who can't read in helping them match denominations of old bills to new ones. We forget that our currency is used worldwide.

Bactericidal paper: money grows lots of germs.

If not Braille, then another blind aide.

And yes, the comment about color blind above. It's no small %.

# Red/Green color blindness is by far the most common form, about 99%, and causes problems in distinguishing reds and greens. Another color deficiency Blue/Yellow also exists, but is rare and there is no commonly available test for it.
# Depending on just which figures you believe, color blindness seems to occur in about 8% - 12% of males of European origin and about one-half of 1% of females.

Yes to the above: The current banknotes do not represent the full history of this country and should be completely redesigned to show a more of it.

We seem stuck in our nation's early past as an era containing the only events worthy to be called history.

I think that this is almost perfect. Firstly I thnk that the denominations should be $1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 a one dollar bill is easier to carry than a one dollar coin and 25/250 bills, I think, would be easier to compute with, alongside with reflecting the denominations on coins.

Secondly I think that the Bill of Rights looks a little cluttered. Maybe clauses in the First Amendment.

And to all of you who thing that money should reflect more of history. I disagree. It should focus on the founding on the nation.

Well done Mr.Tyznik!

Nice effort. I think your images are a little too D.C. centric and you might have been better off keeping the current Presidents/Founders on their respective denominations. But, hey, maybe non D.C. landmarks are meant for postage stamps...

I initially thought that your decision to quote the Bill of Rights was schlocky, but then my inner snob went in another direction and decided that it might do Americans some good to know their rights. I think the overall look of the bills is beautiful. Any time you chose to change something so basic to everyday life, you are bound to encounter hostility, so don't be discouraged.

I was honestly surprised to find out that people were interested in redesigning US currency - not because I don't think it needs to be redesigned, but because Americans generally seemed far too attached to their outdated bills. I find it terribly amusing to see people talk about how the bills look too much like European currency. Having grown up using various European currencies (mostly the Euro), I have to say that the Euro holds up far better than the dollar. The size differences are nice, though not completely necessary, and for those that aren't blind or color-blind, the difference in colors work well to pick out the bill you want. I like the idea of keeping the green and going for a color strip - a diplomatic way of keeping "greenbacks" as such but altering them to make them more user-friendly. As so many have said, the $1 and $2 coins are a great idea (another European idea that is extremely practical). And the penny? It needs to go. I never use pennies.

I think my only issue is with who to put on the bills. I feel you put a lot of thought into deciding that only politicians/presidents should be on the bills, and while I think that this makes it far easier to make the bills less politically charged (ironic, perhaps?), I feel that there is a whole chunk of US history that is lost. Give Americans the chance to vote on a list of influential Americans and let them decide. I'm tired of seeing old white men on bills when so many others have made an impact on US history (some of whom are old white men, but for the sake of my argument...). For those that argue the founding is more important, I have to disagree - it's not just those that built the foundations, but those that shaped it. You don't have to be a founder to shape the government. In fact, you don't even have to be a politician. The attitude that the government is the end-all is so warped, almost undemocratic. The government is (well, should be) the people, and if we can't put "the People" on the money, what's the use? We Americans need to add some spice to our lives, and though it seems silly and perhaps frivolous to change the currency in such hard economic times, it's surprising how much a small change can do for the mindset of a peoples.

I like putting the Bill of Rights on the bills; it's an addition I can whole-heartedly support. I'm not a fan of "In God we Trust."

I love, love, love, LOVE, the bill of rights idea.

Way to take a page out of Canada's Book of Progress. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

gorgeous work! this design is fantastic - and i love that you put the bill of rights on the bills.

Thanks for all the compliments, everyone. I'm glad this has sparked debate, but again, I'm not sure what exactly (other than the inclusion of Braille) makes you think these notes are an "imitation" of Canada's currency.

I like the idea, but this set seems peculiar somehow. For one, I think that if we are going to change what the bills look like, we should at least keep the denominations of bills that the United States is used to (1s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s and 100s). Also, Alexander Hamilton got shafted out of his position on the ten dollar bill because there was no one dollar bill.

Very nice work. Some things I'd consider changing, but such a great start and very beautiful. In some ways, I like the idea of including things like that painting of Washington crossing the Delaware elsewhere rather than just photos of buildings and images of the same people on the notes. I like the idea of portraying events more than places. I love the Bill of Rights on there, and the typeface (out of curiosity, is it an American typeface?), but let's drop lesser politicians like Grant in favor of someone more recent, though obviously that opens it to lots of controversy. I think few would argue with someone like MLK or even Robert Kennedy or someone on the notes. I really can't get over how beautiful they are, and I think you've hit on a lot of great themes: keeping portraits on the bills, the green, etc.

The attempt to "modernize" the dollar bill is a waste of time anyway. It's one of the few currencies that has remained relatively unchanged over time-- something we should be proud of, not change for the sake of your ego.
On a design note- these bills seem cold. The brick of text on the back looks like it could be the bill's nutrition facts.

Primary problem are the words Federal Reserve Note - not a note, no reserves.

US currency is fiat money. However, that does not change the fact that it is a note (see the word "banknote"). And the organization that has the currency to issue it is, in fact, called the Federal Reserve, whether or not they actually hold reserves. Every major currency today is fiat money.

One of the few best on this website.

As a designer myself, I've always found the design of US "paper" money bland, and these designs are the best I've seen on this site.

The Bill of Rights incorporated into the designs is excellent. Perhaps by adding them to the money people will actually learn them?

We need to think about the obvious repercussions. How could we feature some national monuments and not others? Tourism profits would be thrown into imbalance!

Very cool design. The layout is very simple yet professional, the colors work, the reason behind the pictures/people is very sound, and the addition of the Bill of Rights is absolutely brilliant. Some of the designs on this site are decent looking, but not representative of what United States bills should look like; your design is the exception, and if we started using these tomorrow, I think it would be a marked improvement.

This looks too easy to duplicate, doesn't look like money, more like a common design, sorry I dont like them, the current ones I think are better

Great designs. I would like to see FDR on a commonly used bill, like the $10.00 or the $20.00.

great rethinking design of the us dollar. it shows how we can enjoy and benefit from great design, staying current and fresh.

Nice. It references back to 'classic' US notes, but much more international and modern. I think more Americans need to be familiar with currencies from other countries in which color is widely used, before they will accept the change. But if it was up to me, your designs would be used ;-)

Nice. It references back to 'classic' US notes, but much more international and modern

Jul 02, 2009
Chip said...
This looks too easy to duplicate, doesn't look like money, more like a common design, sorry I dont like them, the current ones I think are better

Beautiful! We need a new design urgently.

a terrific design, appropriately complex, although it might have benefitted from a little more white space, but I like the color-varied strips depending upon denomination. Note: at least two NON-presidents appear on our present currency -- Franklin on the $5 and Hamilton on the $10

I cannot understand why you idiots think we need to remake America, change the Constitution, and take "In God we Trust" off our money! This country was founded by men a lot smarter than anyone we have now and this system has worked for over 250 years. The problem is that we have a small percentage of liberal socialists that only want power, not caring what destruction they will cause to the Greatest Country in the world. A lot of college students have been literally brain washed into thinking that a Socialist state would be good, not reading in history that Socialism has never worked and never will. "In God we trust" is on our money because this Country was founded on Christian ideals and based of course like most laws in all nations, the "Ten Commandments" No matter what you hear on CNN(Communist news network) or the other liberal mouthpieces, this country is still over 75% Christian and they have been silent enough and are now getting tired of less than 10% of the people pushing their Anti -American ways on the rest of us. The Constitution works now as well as it did when it was written, and will work for 250 more years. It is only because of a few brain warped individuals that need to read about the true history of the United States and what we are about that we are having the listen to idiots like Obama and the rest of the socialist in Congress, or liberal Democrats that we have to put up with this. This country has fought wars for our freedoms and against just such Ideals, like Communism, Socialism and Marxism. It is funny, the very idiots that have freedom to say these things are the very dummies that want to take it away. They are so stupid they are cutting their own throats in the process, which should tell you just how totally dumb these people are. I do not like the look of the currency, it looks cold, thoughtless, and un-American. It does not promote the very ideas that made this country great. Abraham Lincoln said it best, he said that"This country will never be conquered by any foreign power, but if internationalists and liberal ideas are left to fester, it will destroy itself from within". Looks like we have a few people that truly think that changing this great country is for the better, not knowing they are truly destroying their very existence of being free! It is hard to fathom these sick people and anyone that would even give them the time of day. Just like one of the people that said on this blog that it was about time to take "In God we trust" off our money, well we would have to take it off most of the buildings in Washington D.C.. All I know, I am not your judge, but you will be judged and I would love to be there when you try to explain yourself and your beliefs when your standing in front of God, who you obviously do not believe in. If you do not like the way this country is and has been since it's conception, then do every one a favor, find some Marxist / Socialist or Communist Country and move there if this is the kind of place you want to live in. As for me, I like this Country and what it stands for just the way it has been and is.

The only "Christian values" this country was founded upon were slavery and oppression. We "liberals" and "socialists" corrected that, and are now correcting the revisionist history and lies you and your ilk spew as you did in your little rant above. This country and its laws and principles are in NO way shape or form based on your fairytale book, your invisible sky daddy, or the ridiculous "ten commandments" in your bronze age slave owner's manual. The Founding Fathers were DEISTS and FREETHINKERS who brainwashed fundie fools like yourself would label atheists, communists, socialists, liberals and "anti-American" were they alive today.

And NO, little Xian sheep - it is YOU who are brainwashed and indoctrinated. You embrace a book and 2000 year old cult both plagiarized off of early, BETTER mythologies. If YOU and your fundie kin don't like REPAIRS the educated and enlightened are making to this country that you fools have inflicted upon it, then I suggest YOU move to a country more fitting to thos of your mindset. IRAN might be a good choice for you. Go see firsthand how a country is ruined by bronze age THEOCRACY.

PS - evolution is reality and the world 4.8 billion years old (not 6000).

DS is 1000% right. You conservatives make me sick, if it was up to you we would still be a slave keeping nation. Because change and progress is per definition not something you conservative cowards are interested in. I mean, people, read "Bear's" comment above! This type of thought simply oozes from it.

I don't like the euro aesthetically or otherwise. Don't make my dollars into it.

Get rid of the hideous attempt to secularize - or perhaps atheistize - our money, and you've actually got a good banknote. America was a nation founded on freedom of religion AND a belief in a supreme being. "In God We Trust" does not specify the Christian God, instead, it is an overall acknowledgment of a higher power that is America's guide. What I get a kick out of is that it is virtually NEVER the Buddhists or Hindus who raise objections to God in the public square - its the atheists, who seems to run in fear at the very idea of something they are supposed to believe is nothing more than a man-made myth. They demand that those of us who believe in God force our beliefs behind locked doors so that they can walk down the street without having to witness the absolute horror of people who believe in God.

/rant

Also - virtually all the notes on this site are too big to be a legitimate replacement. A Standard US banknote is 6 1/8" x 2 5/8" - anything bigger would require a massive national changeover in any electronic device that uses money - not to mention wallets, etc.

"You conservatives make me sick, if it was up to you we would still be a slave keeping nation. "

False. Slavery, the suppression of minorities believed to be unfit to care for themselves, fits far more with liberal nanny-stateism than Conservative free enterprise.

"In God We Trust" is NOT a foundational motto of this country. That motto was illegally enacted in 1957. The legitimate motto is "E Pluribus Unum" and is far more representative of what this country stands for - FROM MANY, ONE.

Our Founding Fathers were careful to keep GOD out of their new government.

And to the person who said slavery is a result of liberalism - you are dead wrong, hillbilly. Conservative free enterprise is exactly what promoted slavery in this country.

"That motto was illegally enacted in 1957"

Illegally? How so?

--

"Our Founding Fathers were careful to keep GOD out of their new government. "

Bull****. Our founding fathers routinely prayed together during the writing of our national documents. The Constitution and other national documents contain references to a supreme being. Church services were held, for some time, in national buildings.

The ONLY thing the founding fathers did was work carefully to prevent any one religion from being declared official - and that was only done to make sure the different colonies (many of which had their own official religions) would all be able to join the new union. "Separation of Church and State" is not in ANY of our laws, but in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson, and it certainly was not intended to see religion thrown behind locked doors as some now wish it were.

I actually really like those bills quite a bit, but they remind me a lot of the Euro, which it seems you're trying to emulate. I adore the euro, and after just returning from living in Europe over the summer, I find the dollars hard to return to. Still, the dollar bills and coins have been fairly close to how they are now since their inception, and as such have become part of the individuality of America. I liked how you didn't make the bills different colors or sizes like the Euros, however. As you said, green has become synonymous with money among other things, and the different sized Euro bills are nice in theory but I found them annoying in practice. The bill of rights is a nice addition but it's far too much text for a bill that size, and I think smaller excerpts from each amendment would do better on the back in a slightly larger font in my opinion.

since i belong to the design industry,and a design enthusiast i would want to concentrate strictly on the bill designs and not on the post.and i would say they look attractive compared to the current ones we use . they look as pretty as postcards! maybe you could also look forward to some coin designing as well

This looks too easy to duplicate, doesn't look like money, more like a common design, sorry I dont like them, the current ones I think are better

G'day from down under. We discontinued one and two cent coins decades ago. 1-2 cent amounts are rounded down for everyday use, 3-4 rounded up. Banks and electronic transactions continue to record cents. Doesn't cause any hassles. Marketers still love things like $99.99.

I live in Australia. A few years ago my cousin came over from the US. When he first got here he laughed long and hard about our "Monopoly money" as he called it. (If you've never seen it, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_banknotes). Two weeks here using it and he was totally convinced what a great currency it is. I'm amazed by comments like "doesn't look like money". It's a shame to limit yourself by thinking that maintaining the status quo is always best. Polymer banknotes are extremely difficult to counterfeit, last 4 times longer than paper, and when they are eventually worn out, are recyclable. I like Tyznik's designs, and I think they'd be great in polymer. The Braille idea is worth exploring too. Nice work! ps. I don't miss 1 and 2 cent coins either!

Sorry the above link included the right parenthsis.
Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_banknotes

ey i like it, i dont like the bright colors, i like the strip in the 100 dlls it looks good that kind of way, but the rest it just dont fit, i think...
constructive critisim :)

Best design on the site, amazing work well done

What if...

Does this new design incorporate the secret stone mason symbols to help nicholas cage find the treasure? LOL

These are woefully tiresome just looks like the sort of crap a "web 2.0" "designer" would come up with, the current dollars are way more interesting design wise. The only thing that should be removed is the god bullshit. Your justification is like listening to a school child, these kinda look ok but there is no real thought behind 90% of what you have shown here.

Great work man. yeah I hope of these people are just your friends being sarcastic because their comments make no sense. Your work is great and I love the practicality. Nice job!

You left off "In God We Trust"!! Were did that go?

This design looks fine for a European country, perhaps. Maybe France or some such, but it totally lacks the strong look and feel of US currency. There is no paper money like it in the world from a design standpoint.

This design would completely destroy that uniqueness (technically excellent, though your design is ^_^)

I've seen a lot of comments talking about how this redesign would rid the dollar of its uniqueness, but being unique isn't always a good thing. For instance, being the only industrialized country without universal healthcare, or the only country besides Myanmar not using the metric system certainly make America unique. Finding a unique quality about our country should make us examine that quality and really think if maybe the rest of the word figured something out that we haven't yet.

Sorry to go against all the gushing, but I'm not a huge fan of these. They are merely knock-offs of the Euro system, except not as well done. Your delineation between denomination is too obscure. Switzerland and the Euro (among others) use entirely different colors and sizing to differentiate between denominations giving the user two major reference points from which to gather information.

The manner in which you have designed these does not effectively communicate the difference between each denomination for the visually impaired or when large amount of currency need to be quickly sorted and counted. Not that our current currency is doing a great job at this now, but why not make that a problem to design around versus superficially designing something for the sake of design. Yeah I understand that you put braille on the lower left corner of the front of it and you put a tiny strip of color that amounts to no more than maybe 15% of the currency's surface area, but I don't think you put enough thought into how it would eventually be used and abused.

I also feel you have really stripped any sense of emotional attachment and tradition out of the currency. Again, it seems you have merely cherry-picked the background aesthetic from a few Mac desktops paired it with a few monuments, presidents & important figures, threw in some security features the Euro already utilizes and called it a day. I think you should do your homework and research America and our history on a different level than what you have, if at all, not to mention other currencies from around the world. See what's been done and try to do something that pushes boundaries, but instead you've chosen a road already tread.

Design is about intent and the only thing I can gather you intended to do is to try and make something as 'cool' as the Euro. Your actual intention should have been to solve the problems our currency currently has, therefore enhancing the user's experience in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

I'm fine with criticism, but if, as you say, "design is about intent," it seems like it might be a good idea for you to read about my intent as I stated it above. That would be a good way for you to solve the problem of only being able to gather that my only intention was to be as "cool" as the Euro. That wasn't my intent at all. Whether I achieved my intent to solve the current currency's problems or not is up for debate, but my intent isn't.

I really like the idea of printing the Bill of Rights on the back of our currency, but sadly, I can guarantee you that the 2nd Amendment will never be printed on any U.S. currency.

get jackson off our money. the guy was just a tad genocidal.

looks great, as a tourist I have always thought it stupid not to have a colour difference. Don't listen to that muppet Jack Flip.

Love it. From one designer to another, beautiful work.

the original comment said it all:
what has worked for so long should just be left alone.
how ever, the idea of eliminating the penny for production cost purposes does make sense.