Just about a year ago the government of India announced a contest to design an alpha-numeric mark to represent the nations currency, the rupee. I learned of the effort listening to Erik Spiekermann speak about it on NPR.
This may not sound amazing but I found it a truly exciting moment, graphic design was being put on to the world stage. The second largest nation (in population) was turning to my profession to brand this exploding economy and make it a world currency. No small matter, our closest example is the creation of the Euro, a modern economic invention.
It’s clear that India wishes to place it’s currency on the same international platform as the US Dollar ($), UK Pound (£) and Japanese Yen (¥). Having an economic symbol that is internationally recognized raises the perceived value of your currency amongst it’s competitors. Let’s face it, money is a money-making business and the more stable your currency, the more value it has in the world.
Currently the Rupee is represented in the marketplace with a letter-pair (Rs), as are other countries; Venezuela (Bs), Bolivia (Bs), Belarus (Br), Pakistan (Rs), Hungary (Ft), Indonesia (Rp) and Switzerland (Sf). Top economic currencies all bear their own unique symbol and this is where India has set their sights. A simple mark will aid them
Now, India has released the five finalists in this design contest, and [frankly] I’m not impressed. My concern with the five final options is they don’t look like typographic forms. If this symbol is to be become a part of the countries and the worlds culture, it must conform to the same rules letterforms do. There are still people grumbling over the euro sign.
Three things that will make the final design a success:
- It must be is simple. Can it be duplicated by hand in three strokes? If it is, then the people will adopt it.
- It must conform to the rigors of typography. Will it look good on a computer screen and print well? If it does, then the countries will adopt it.
- It must make sense. Does it connect you to nation? If it does then the world will adopt it.
I hope that the Indian government can achieve this, the world is watching closely, well at least it’s graphic designers are.
