Influx

Most conversations about interaction these days tend to revolve around the digital landscape. It’s especially interesting that the more digital we become the less of a physical connection we have to real money and for many the physical presence of coins has become an annoying obstacle to convenience.

It’s therefore surprising to hear that Matt Dent, a 26 year-old graphic designer won a D&AD Black Pencil for a competition entry he submitted to the Royal Mint in the UK.

His coins are not only beautiful, but as Dent explained in an interview there’s some real thought gone into the design and in particular, how people could interact with them.

“I thought the six coins could make up a shield by
arranging the coins both horizontally, as with the landscape idea, as
well as vertically, in a sort of jigsaw style. I liked the idea and
symbolism of using the Royal Arms, where individually the coins could
focus on specific elements and when placed together they reveal the
complete Royal Arms.

I found the idea that members of the public could
interact with the coins the most exciting aspect of this concept. It’s
easy to imagine the coins pushed around a school classroom table or
fumbled around with on a bar – being pieced together as a jigsaw and
just having fun with them.’

Posted by Ed Cotton