2017-07-04 Tue

On 13th June, 87-year-old maverick banknote designer Robert Deodaat Emile Oxenaar aka “Ootje” died in Manomet, Mass. He was known for designing the most beautiful paper currency and went on to teach graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, later on. More than his popular banknote designs, he was known for his bold and mischievous side.

While working for the Dutch central bank, he designed two series of banknotes from 1966 to 1985. The first one was called the “Erflaters 2” (“Testators 2”) series, depicting important personalities of Dutch history. Released in the late 1960s, the notes are known for their bold colours and the use of a white background. He played his first mischief while designing the 5-guilder note. He invisibly etched his name, “Ootje” without anyone’s knowledge. Apart from that, Frans Hals’ face on the 10-guilder note has Oxenaar’s fingerprint. Guess what? He has also put the fingerprint of his “middle finger” on the 1000 guilder note which went unnoticed till the last moment. The notes were released Nevertheless since the production could not have been stopped mid-way. He then went on the design new Dutch 100-guilder note. He replaced Michiel de Ruyter with the endangered water snipe, something which he was proud of.

The yellow 50-guilder note with a sunflower has another interesting story. The bee on the flower was not intentional or artistic. The bee had to be glued on the mock-up but moved around in the plastic folder. Finally, it landed on the flower accidentally. It stayed there in the final design as well!

His mischief did not end there either. For the 250-guilder note that depicts the lighthouse, he included three names. One of his secret friend, the second of his girlfriend Ria and the third of his granddaughter Hannah. For the watermark, he added an image of his girlfriend’s rabbit. Now, who would think of playing such tricks when you are assigned to do something as important as designing a country’s currency notes! But Ootje, id it. Probably because life is about taking it easy and having a few whole-hearted laughs. May his soul rest in peace!