UK-ID

An idea for embracing more open borders and international exchange in the wake of Brexit

In collaboration with Chris Green, my British partner in life and sometimes in work

Created in the wake of the Brexit referendum of 2016, UK-ID reimagines the passport as a generative identification system that celebrates international exchange and multi-national lives. Embodying diversity, interconnectedness, and movement across borders, the text of “No Man is an Island,” by the English poet John Donne, is embedded in the new passport’s design. Patterns emblematic of radio waves and water celebrate open channels and the desire to move.

UK-ID organizes living and working statuses across countries, and throughout a person’s life. Through web and mobile services, individuals access their status as citizens, residents, dual-citizens, visa-holders, and general visitors in a streamlined and protected interface. These simultaneously active facets of an individual’s identity also appear on the card as measures of pride and utility. Participation rights across local and national communities, such as partial voting and residency rights, are offered in response to an individual’s time and engagement within different communities, turning a previously restrictive system into a conduit for new forms of civic and cultural engagement.