Zayed University hosts workshop on Banknote Design
June 24, 2014
As part of the curriculum of the students of the Graphic Design II class, Zayed University’s (ZU) College of Arts and Creative Enterprise (CACE), together with the Swiss Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and KBA-NotaSys of Switzerland hosted a workshop on banknote design. During the workshop a select group of students had the chance to learn more about banknote design and, in small groups, they worked on the creation of design proposals for new banknotes. The workshop will take place at the ZU campus in Abu Dhabi. The banknote designs created by the students will be judged by a panel of representatives of ZU, the Swiss Embassy and KBA-NotaSys and a winner will be announced during a grand ceremony at the ZU Abu Dhabi campus on September 10.
Mr. Christian Rubino, Instructor of CACE at Zayed University comments: “It’s a great honour that we could work together with a world-leading company like KBA-NotaSys on this project. Banknotes are seen as the most sophisticated security documents and design plays a critical role in their creation. A banknote is not only a means of payment it also represents the business card for a country. The first things that visitors to a foreign country are likely to see are the national flag and a country’s currency. To have our students trained by specialists in this domain adds tremendous value to their experience in designing. Ten graphic design students have been working with eight multimedia design students on this project in teams of three. They prepared themselves for the workshop by researching and reading about banknote design and observing various specimens as case studies. While looking into the breadth of local cultural elements, students were exploring a range of ideas to translate visually onto banknotes.”
Ms. Janet Bellotto, Interim Dean, CACE, remarks: “This collaboration between education and the professional world engages the college’s mission of creative enterprise. Students of CACE will be important contributors to shaping the future of design and its practice in the UAE.”
Mr. Fadi Saadallah, Regional Director for the UAE adds: “from the first moment that we discussed the opportunities of organising such a workshop in the UAE we have been engaged to give the students of the Zayed University the best possible training. We are very grateful for the works of Her Excellency Mrs. Reichlin, the Swiss Ambassador to the UAE, for bringing us in contact with the people at ZU. We are very excited to see the results of the design class in the artwork that the students will submit and we hope that they will make it difficult for us to choose a winner. We are currently reaching out to representatives of the Central Bank to support us in the judging of the submitted designs. Their input and views are invaluable in such a project and will add an additional dimension for the students as well.”
During the opening ceremony of the workshop the Ambassador highlights that, “Switzerland belongs to the most innovative countries in the world. But innovation alone is not enough. Transferring skills and knowledge to the future generation is the key to keeping skills alive and developing ideas further,” and expresses her anticipation to see the students’ final designs.
