Five design concepts for the California quarter have been sent to the U.S. Mint for consideration. I’m not that crazy about any particular one, but had I to choose among them, I’d go with John Muir at Yosemite. It’s simple and not too busy. Even just from a purely technical standpoint, I think it’s well-drawn. Though, I assume the ultimate design will be given a standardized line and shading treatment suitable for stamping on a coin. Like, I don’t think they’d be able to recreate the detail of the Golden Gate Bridge drawing, for example. I don’t like that one, anyway. I mean, I get the whole “look, it’s all of scenic California!” vibe, but maybe it’s a little too realistically drawn. No, the real Bridge doesn’t lead off into the Hollywood hills, but that’s the impression you get. And what about the “Waves and Sun” one? Those Hokusai-like crests don’t look particularly inviting. Who needs to worry about sharks when you have waves like that? (Calif. quarter link via kottke.org.)
Categories
Drawn and quartered
Five design concepts for the California quarter have been sent to the U.S. Mint for consideration. I’m not that crazy about any particular one, but had I to choose among them, I’d go with John Muir at Yosemite. It’s simple and not too busy. Even just from a purely technical standpoint, I think it’s well-drawn. […]
4 replies on “Drawn and quartered”
I prefer the simplicity of the Yosemite version, too. Except that it looks like John Muir is hiking on some glacier in the middle of Antarctica… As for the Golden Gate version, it’s gotta irk Southern Californians that so many of the Golden State’s landmarks are up here in the North, and in the Bay Area even.
The Muir design is better than the sequoia, and the mish-mash panning for gold thing is overdone and typical of other States’ failure to choose a design from fear of offending someone. But I like the waves and sun, precisely because it is different from any of the other quarters out there. It doesn’t necessarily say “California” to me, but it isn’t just another icon: it’s actually designed. This, to me, is a good thing, and worthy of California’s status as a progressive State. Sometimes.
I hate them all and am bothered by these choices. I knew I should’ve voted when we had 10 choices. John Muir makes me want to die with all his nature crap.
I’ll go w/the Sequoia one. It suggests Muir w/out putting his rugged face on the coin.
I like the “Jaws” looking one. The tree is WAY too…aboreal. And the gold miner looks like a parade at Disney’s California adventure. I just keep waiting to hear a Wayne Brady voice over saying, “There was gold in them there hills…”