99% Invisible Challenge Coin

I had the honor of designing a challenge coin for one of my favorite podcasts, 99% Invisible, a show about design and architecture. Host Roman Mars and his team wanted something that referenced traditional challenge coin tropes with a beautiful, minimal design that aligned with their sensibilities.

Side 1

For the front of the coin, I used two commonly-used challenge coin elements, a shield and a ribbon.

I drew shipping cranes to reference the podcast's headquarters in Oakland, a staircase for architecture, and a lightning bolt for radio. The waveform is a clip from the show's iconic intro: "This is 99% Invisible. I'm Roman Mars."

And of course, always read the plaque.

Side 2

For the back of the coin, I surrounded an enamel yellow square, a reference to their logo, with the following symbols culled from notable episodes – from top, clockwise:

• Flag, Vexillionaire
• Quatrefoil, The Fancy Shape
• Sliced bread, Good Bread
• Lock, Perfect Security
• Pizza Hut roof, U.T.B.A.P.H
• Hash, Octothorpe
• Planchette, O-U-I-J-A
• Plimsoll line, A Cheer for Samuel Plimsoll