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China Daily | Updated: 2008-05-10 07:43

The Olympic Museum of Lausanne in Switzerland launched Beijing 2008 Chinese Cultural Exhibition early this year and the overall design was marvelously cloaked in the color of Chinese Red and images of the Temple of Heaven.

Now the exhibition's designer Roger Pfund comes to Beijing with his own solo show, which features his beautiful banknote designs.

Paintings, graphic designs, banknote designs and architecture reveal the versatility of the creator.

Elegant faces of women are decorated with minor pattern or illusory color blocks, presenting both aesthetic enjoyment and a trace of banknote.

The banknote and security series are often fulfilled with the harmonious combination of flowing brush lines and vivid colors.

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Pfund also fuses a lot of elements of daily life into his creations. Apples, butterflies and smiling faces resonate with each other as a young girl relaxes under the sunshine.

The top European graphic artist is the designer of the Swiss passport, which has been in use since 2003. He also designed several banknotes for the Swiss National Bank and Banque de France.

Pfund is famed for combining aesthetics and security into his banknote design.

He is also a leading figure who introduced the computer-aided technique.

His advanced anti-counterfeiting features have established brand-new standards for the area.

Pfund's Swiss francs are circulating around the world like an ambassador of the country.

His handiwork not only plays an economic role, but also reflects the cultural and historical feature his nation.

Pfund's relationship with the Olympic movement began 20 years ago when he designed a commemoration coin for the 1988 Olympics.

The coin, with a par value of five Swiss francs, is made of copper-nickel alloy.

On one side of the coin, a pattern is composed of small overlapping rings with an allusion to the Olympic Five-Ring.

On the other side, a pigeon, which spreads its wings to fly upward, transmits the Olympic spirit in the form of sound wave.

Among the spreading wave, the signature of the designer appears on the right.

Born in 1943 in Bern, Pfund began his design career in 1971. He established his fame in his early years with many creative designs of banknotes, which were adopted by the Swiss National Bank.

Designers of banknotes in the early days focused mainly on anti-counterfeiting measures, and aesthetic value took second place.

But Pfund believed that banknotes should also be beautiful art.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture of People's Republic of China and Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing, the show acts as a China debut for the artist after exhibitions around Europe, America and other countries.

Wu Liping

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