Matthew Dent
Matthew Dent is a British graphic designer who created the 'Royal Shield of Arms', design, that was officially unveiled by The Royal Mint on 2nd April 2008 and used on the reverse of the new coins that were released in the United Kingdom. Later founding the creative agency Bison Bison with designer Christian Davies, the collaboration has been responsible for the design of several coins and collections with various mints.
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Key Facts
- Born Matthew Dent in Bangor, Wales.
- Won a competition to design the reverse of the new coinage for the United Kingdom, with his 'Royal Shield of Arms', design, which was officially announced by The Royal Mint in April 2008.
- Founded the creative studio, Bison Bison, alongside fellow designer Christian Davies.
Early Life & Education
Matthew Dent was born in 1981 in Bangor, Wales and grew up there before attending Coleg Menai, North Wales in 1999, graduating in 2000 with a BTEC Foundation degree in Art and Design.
This allowed Matthew Dent to enrol at the University of Brighton in 2000, where he was highly focused on mastering the foundations of visual communication, typography and layout, graduating in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design.
Early Career
Matthew Dent moved to London and began working as a professional graphic designer, shortly after graduating from the University of Brighton in 2003.
During this time while building up his professional experience in London, a friend sent Matthew Dent an email in 2005 with a link to a website, with details about an publicly open design competition, which had been launched by the Royal Mint.
Royal Mint Design Competition
In August 2005, The Royal Mint launched a competition to overhaul the design for the coins in circulation across the United Kingdom.
It had been nearly 40 years since the last redesign of the coinage with the process taking several years to complete, starting with an open invitation to the public.
When the deadline was reached for submissions later that year, The Royal Mint had received over 4,000 entries from more than 500 designers, one of which was Matthew Dent.
Spending over a year debating and reviewing the submissions, The Royal Mint Advisory Committee narrowed down the submissions across five rounds of voting. This led to Matthew Dent's 'Puzzle Shield', concept eventually being privately selected as the winner, which was sent for the official approval of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Queen Elizabeth II.
The Royal Mint eventually announced the winning idea, which involved the use of the 'Royal Shield of Arms of the United Kingdom', and the winner behind the design, Matthew Dent.
Used across six coins used in the United Kingdom, from the penny to the fifty pence coin, each coin features part of the 'Royal Shield of Arms of the United Kingdom', which when arranged and placed together in a certain way, completes the design showing the 'Royal Shield of Arms of the United Kingdom', much like a jigsaw.
Alongside his cash prize of £35,000 for the winning coin design, Matthew Dent was launched into national prominence when the new coins, using his design, were officially unveiled in April 2008.
Numismatics & Design Career
After creating his now distinguished 'Royal Shield of Arms', design, Matthew Dent continued to work on solo projects, designing and collaborating on various numismatic and coin design projects.
- The WWF Fifty Pence Coin: Released in 2011, Matthew Dent designed the popular coin which was released by The Royal Mint, marking the 50th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund or WWF. The reverse of the coin featured the iconic WWF panda logo in the centre, surrounded by a stylised arrangement of 50 tiny icons, which included animals, plants and symbols of the natural world.
- The Charles Dickens £2 Coin: To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, Matthew Dent created the design on the reverse of the coin release to mark the event. Released by The Royal Mint in 2012, the design on the reverse of the coin by Matthew Dent, featured the portrait of Charles Dickens, formed by the titles of the famous books by the author.
- Decimalisation 50th Anniversary Series: Matthew Dent designed a commemorative collector series totalling eight coins, released by Hattons of London in 2021, marking 50 years since the transition in the United Kingdom, to the decimal monetary system on 15th February 1971.
Following his ongoing success, Matthew Dent went on to found the creative studio in London called, Bison Bison, alongside fellow designer Christian Davies in 2011.
Bison Bison has grown to become an award winning, graphic design agency based in the United Kingdom and Canada, creating print and digital services for businesses across the world.
This has included the continued design and involvement with various coins and collections, working alongside Christian Davies at their agency, Bison Bison.
- The Six Decades of 007 Series: Bison Bison was commissioned by The Royal Mint to create the definitive, James Bond collection honouring the famous 007 agent. A project lasting over several years, each coin captures a specific era by showcasing legendary vehicles, starting with the first coin release in 2020 featuring 'Little Nellie', the 1960's gyroplane. Other coin releases in the series have included the submarine Lotus Esprit, nicknamed 'Wet Nellie', from the 1970's and the Acrostar Microjet, featured in the 1980's.
- The Alan Turing Fifty Pence Coin: The final coin for the 'Innovation in Science', collection, the design on the reverse of the coin pays tribute to the father of modern computing, Alan Turing. Released in 2022, the design features the wartime 'Bombe', codebreaking machine with clever, hidden word sequences in code, honouring the legacy of Alan Turing.
- The FA Cup 150th Anniversary £2 Coin: Another numismatic coin project commissioned by The Royal Mint, the coin release in 2022 was designed by Bison Bison, celebrated 150 years of the historic football competition.
- End of World War II £5 Coin: Released by The Royal Mint in collaboration with the Imperial War Museum, the commemorative coin, issued in 2020, recognised the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
