Free software python coin on national French television

A while ago I blogged about my winning coin design. As an architect and artist I have switched some years ago to free software. A lot of so called experts would tell me that is impossible. They need Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya, ... on a fancy Macbook. However if I look to what they produce, I see no problem in making that with Gimp, Inkscape, Blender, ... even on an underpowered netbook. I did mainly this blogpost to proof not only that they are wrong, but also to showcase a design, which they even wouldn't be able to make with any proprietary software.

The reactions were overwhelming both from the free software world and outside. The Dutch architecture site did a competition for who could read all the names of the architects. I've been told the design featured in a popular Dutch comic Fokke & Sukke. (Anyone has a reference to this?) Rem Koolhaas was happy he was number one. Also typography sites showed a lot of interest. The Ministry of Finance promoted the coin on national Dutch television with this clip. (Unfortunately I was not involved in the production of the clip, otherwise it would have been 'Blendered'.) The more this kind of success stories pop up, the more people will be convinced to switch to free software.

Last month a French television crew of Avenue de l'Europe (FR3) came to interview me about the coin. They are making a documentary about the 10 years existence of the euro. They chose my design as one of the most remarkable in the history of the euro. As the documentary is about the total history of the euro, I will probably get not more than one minute or maybe just some seconds. The emission is tomorrow 28/3 at 18h30 at FR3: http://info.france3.fr/avenue-europe

In the preparation emails for the interview, I felt they were more interested in the design than in free software. So in order to give some publicity, I wore an Ubuntu T-shirt for the interview. As a location I chose the Fablab in Amsterdam. (They are still looking for people experienced with (graphical) free software or writing 3d printer drivers. If you want to help out, contact alex*waag.org). I guess the television crew really have never heard about free software design, because one of them asked me if I went for holiday in South Africa recently when she saw my Ubuntu T-shirt.