Date the House Note was released
Project Team
Banknotes Directorate – Banca d’Italia
Project Description
The ‘BAN25NOTE – Connection and Interaction’ project was intended to raise awareness of Banca d’Italia’s Banknotes Directorate, located in the Guido Carli Centre in Rome, providing an external and internal vision of this ‘banknote factory’, which is no longer, or rather is not only, the place where printing takes place.
The note is a tribute to Banknotes Directorate, symbolized by its historical printing works and rooted in the beliefs and the visions of this place, where history and innovation, creativity and technical know-how coexist.
The concept of the project is a reference to this: indeed, it is the connection and interaction among different areas of expertise that gives the most successful results.
Design Theme
BAN25NOTE blends an innovative and captivating design, based on clean lines and vivid colours, with novel and unconventional approaches to graphic techniques and materials. A dynamic composition, underlined by vertical elements such as the intaglio band and the fountain, is combined with traditional decorations reinterpreted in a modern key, illustrating how different styles can be integrated to produce new outcomes.
The idea that the interaction between creativity and technical skills helps transforming the banknote design into an industrial project is conveyed through offset‑printed elements and details reflecting the tradition (the modern interpretation of a guilloche decoration), the commitment to continuous technological innovation (the recurring element of the gear wheel), and the effort to reduce the environmental footprint (represented by a customized pattern with suns and bikes).
The intaglio element shows the Guido Carli building, where the printing works are located, from a perspective that enhances its architectural peculiarities. Expanding the size of the intaglio printing beyond the edges of the banknote gives a more contemporary aesthetics. The importance of this structure, blending into the urban context and interacting with the neighbourhood, is allegorically represented by the intertwining lines of the decorative band running through the entire design. The unconventional shading effect of the band, experimenting with the use of light colours on a dark background, is influenced by the main architectural features of the building façade, the horizontal blinds and vertical pillar.
Integration of Security Features
On the front side, the banknote incorporates a screen‑printed element resembling a gear wheel, evoking technology and the connections between different parts of a machine. The links joining the wheels symbolize the human factor that allows them to function, as a metaphor of the fact that the interaction between an inspired mind and a capable hand can be seen as the key for innovation. The design takes advantage of one of the latest breakthroughs in security features, presenting both a colour‑shift effect from green to blue—visible when the banknote is tilted—and a three‑dimensional effect on the gear wheels.
The security of the note is also ensured by UV fluorescent, infrared and magnetic inks, aiming at a perfect balance between aesthetics and security.
Adding a further dimension to the design concept, UV light reveals the fundamental aspects of the Banknotes Directorate: the importance of interaction and connection between people and the identity of the Directorate, represented by the human face on the front and the fountain on the back. The guilloche decoration, typical of banknote design in the past, creates a connection to the historical background, at the same time giving a contemporary sense to the design.
Other Aspects
The note, which is the first of housenote developed by Banca d’Italia’s printing works, was printed on paper using small-size machines in a run of approximately 300 pieces and is accompanied by a detailed brochure illustrating the note’s aesthetic and functional features, offering a comprehensive and engaging experience.
The banknote was presented for the first time during the participation in the ‘Intergraf Currency+Identity 2025’ conference, held in Milan from the 5th to the 7th of March 2025.
