{"id":47555,"date":"2025-07-25T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/?p=47555"},"modified":"2025-07-25T10:04:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T01:04:58","slug":"banknotes-of-the-norwegian-krone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designcompass.org\/en\/2025\/07\/25\/banknotes-of-the-norwegian-krone\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwegian banknote design made of pixels"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a banknote design project that the Central Bank of Norway collaborated with architecture and design studio Sn\u00f8hetta, graphic design studio Metric Design, and illustrator Terje T\u00f8nnessen from 2014 to 2019. Instead of featuring historical figures from existing banknotes, this attempt centered around the symbolic theme of the 'sea' signified a more democratic starting point for the visual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The core concept of the new banknote design is the beauty of boundaries. Sn\u00f8hetta captures the visual tension and harmony that occurs at the point where sea and land, sky and sea meet, inspired by ancient mosaics and digital pixel art. The design visualizes the boundary between tradition and innovation by mixing organic wave patterns and intricate pixel structures. This combination expresses a temporal layering that seems to travel between analog and digital, past and present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each note is composed using the visual language of the Beaufort scale, which measures wind speed. The 50 krone note represents a calm wind, while the 1,000 krone note represents a strong wind. The 50 krone, with its densely arranged cubic pixels, symbolizes a calm sea breeze with a soft, flowing wave pattern, while the 1,000 krone, with its long blocks of pixels and rough waves, visualizes the tension of strong winds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One side of the banknote features Sn\u00f8hetta\u2019s design, while the other side features Metric\u2019s design and Terje T\u00f8nesen\u2019s graphics. While one side uses a language of symbols and abstraction, the other side balances this with concrete and realistic expressions. These two visual approaches have been adjusted to the central bank\u2019s strict security requirements and are designed to be both functional and beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n