Date the House Note was released
Project Team
CCL Secure, JURA, GSI, Crane Currency
Project Description
The Beauty of Life house note was launched in April 2025 to be the leading example of integrated design in modern banknote technology. The note is crafted with narrative-rich design and a bold new use of micro-optic technology – the first-ever super wide variant of MOTION SURFACE®. The bright, flowing vegetation, intricacy of the central motif and array of Level 1 and 2 security features are the assemblage of multiple printing steps each integrated in accordance with specific operational tolerances.
The Beauty of Life house note received the prestigious award “Best Integrated Technology” from the International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA) in September 2025.
Design Theme
The design of the Beauty of life house note is inspired by the nature surrounding Crane’s facilities and focuses especially on sensitive wetland ecosystems, of which we are dependent on. Layers of movement in the MOTION SURFACE stripe mimic the activity common to vernal pools and the arrival of spring. The back of the note was inspired by Asian aesthetics with smooth gradients and gentle colors that feel calm and balanced. It’s a showcase of how craftsmanship and technology can coexist, and how the beauty of life itself can be captured, line by line, in the smallest details of design.
Integration of Security Features
The note uses an 18 mm wide MOTION SURFACE stripe to both secure and complement the note. The width allows it to move away from traditional rectangular forms and instead create an organic integration of the visual effects with the overall print design. The micro-optic stripe holds depictions of a salamander, ladybugs, a snail, and an army of frogs jumping in unison behind them. Green leaves interlope with the stripe design to make it feel like a natural continuation of the design. Branches in the corners of the note are printed with heavy intaglio to serve as tactile marks. The reverse shows a fish leaping, breaking through the water surface, with a soft watercolor style background.
In the paper version, the note features a ladybug that is printed with intaglio ink on top of the stripe itself, serving as an inspiration for how we can continue to explore full design integration. The watermark depicts a dragonfly, again following the theme of creatures living in or near water. In the polymer version of the note, the watermark has been exchanged for a transparent window with the dragonfly being printed in white ink in it. Under UV-light the dragonfly lights up with fluorescent Vivid™ ink by CCL. In both versions, the note serves as a playground for schools of fish that reveal themselves under UV light.
Other Aspects
It is produced on both Crane’s own ENDURANCE® high-durability cotton paper and Guardian™ polymer substrate by CCL Secure. It was an effort that demonstrates Crane Currency’s commitment to addressing a range of customer needs. Scale production of the two variants showcases the company’s expertise in designing and integrating micro-optics with different substrates.
The visual wonder of MOTION SURFACE® on The Beauty of Life house note is based on an encrypted image layer in which each icon is unique. Without precision microlenses to make sense of it, these icons are undecipherable, making counterfeiting mathematically implausible.
A close-up video of the stripe, showing details such as micro-text.
Our standard animations showing the effects in various tilting angles.
