How often does a country get to redesign it’s own currency? Not very often and recently Sweden took their currency re-design to a whole new level by hosting a competition to determine the new design. Sweden’s Sveriges Riksbank (the world’s oldest central bank) recently announced the winner of this competition which they held to determine Sweden’s new kronor banknotes.

The bank is rolling out brand new bank notes designed by winner, graphic designer Göran Österlund. They are sharp and updated and make other countries’ bills look relatively boring. The other entries in the competition were varied and equally as beautiful and eye-catching. The competition itself is such an interesting way to engage the public in the affairs of the state.

Göran Österlund, graphic designer and engraver, was the overall winner with his set of designs entitled Kulturresan (Cultural journey). The Riksbank provided an official (and charismatically stunted) statement as to why it was chosen, saying:

“The submission is a tightly cohesive series in which the different banknotes share a common idiom and the interplay of the face and reverse sides is unambiguous and harmonic… The composition of the banknotes is consistent and confident… The overall impression is of a beautiful and user-friendly banknote series based on a fine balance of innovation and Swedish tradition.” (via It’s Nice That)

Click here to read more and see images of the design entries. (via It’s Nice That)