Tuesday, November 26, 2002

National Defense and the Decorative Arts OK, bare with me on this one... When looking at Certificate's of Authenticity, as mentioned yesterday, one may see the use of the types of patterns show above. That is a guilloche element. (The one above if from SecuritySoft Co and can be made with their software.) Such patterns are created in a number of ways but you can do it yourself with a spirograph (online, or off.) These patterns are used on important documents, such as most banknotes, because they are very difficult to make a good copy. The fine lines, smooth curves, and sometimes changing color, make it impossible to copy the document as it taxes the memory and resolution limits of a computer/printer or copier. (SecuritySoft Co.) This makes sure that documents such as a Certificate of Authenticity can not be scanned in, perhaps altered and a copy printed. As decoration it has a formal aesthetic element, helping frame the page of the document. IAs we can see, it also carries a layer of meaning regarding security and value. it can also be seen as being an opposite of the machine readable decoration we explored a couple of week's ago. See also: Moiré Pattern: 11:23:17 PM