Design C is a European culture proposal from Neue Gestaltung, a Berlin studio with a long record in cultural and institutional design.
| Design letter | C |
|---|---|
| Theme | European culture |
| Designer | Neue Gestaltung GmbH |
| Based in | Berlin, Germany |
Design C — Neue Gestaltung GmbH. Complete family of six denominations, fronts and reverses. Design proposal only: it does not show an issued or approved euro banknote.
Who they are
Neue Gestaltung GmbH was founded in Berlin in 1995 by Pit Stenkhoff and Eva Wendel. It works in art direction, editorial design, corporate identity and digital applications, with clients including the Bauhaus-Archiv, the Deutsches Technikmuseum and the art magazine Monopol.
The studio is a regular presence at the European Design Awards, where it has collected gold, silver and bronze awards across more than a decade of entries.
What the proposal shows
The proposal treats Europe as a shared cultural space rather than as a collection of national traditions. Each denomination pairs one of the six selected figures with a strong, immediately distinguishable colour, and overlays constellations on a map of Europe — a way of connecting a person to a place without drawing borders.
Its most discussed decision is on the reverse. The contemporary figures are drawn without individual features, so that a reader is meant to recognise themselves in them instead of identifying a specific person. The scenes follow the cultural settings attached to the motifs: performing arts, music, schools, libraries, museums and public squares.
Where it sits in the process
The ten shortlisted families were published on 23 July 2026 for a public survey that closed on 21 September. A decision by the Governing Council is expected around the end of 2026, and none of the published images represents an issued or approved euro banknote.
