Good design standards and the basic passport

We are already used to the high standards that Scandinavians bring to design, now there is a new example with innovations introduced by Norway as to how they will present their passports in futire.

The Telegraph says that whilst EU citizens’ passports are coloured an inoffensive but indistinct burgundy, the Scandinavian nation’s new passports are distinctly finished in white, turquoise or red and contain a surprising feature that should brighten up proceedings for passport controllers the world over:

Designed by local agency Neue Design Studio, who won a competition to redesign the documents and national ID cards, the passport is based on the theme The Norwegian Landscape.

Pages feature minimalist interpretations of the country’s most striking landscapes, and show one of its most mesmerising phenomena only under specific circumstances.

Should airport security staff – or anyone else – shine the passport’s pages under UV light, the otherwise elusive Northern Lights will instantly appear as iridescent trails on the paper.

They add that the new Norwegian passport is expected to enter circulation in about two years, so for now it has been left to the Finnish passport to fly the flag for Nordic design nous.

This passport features an elk on the bottom of each page and bored travellers who flip them rapidly will see the animal amble.

I want one of each.