Switzerland’s new passport design utilizes dynamic UV-sensitive elements inspired by country’s landscapes

Passports have been a bureaucratic necessity when it comes to crossing borders. Usually, passports arrive with a normal and quite subtle look. But Switzerland’s next-generation passport is not just a travel document but it also showcases the country’s legacy. Issued in fall 2022, Geneva-based studio RETINAA unveiled a new design for Switzeland’s next-generation passport. In close collaboration with a group of experts led by the Federal Office of Police, the design is created.

The new design unveiled by RETINAA is simply a work of art that celebrates the country’s identity. Designed in partnership with Thales and Orell Fussli, the final results utilize dynamic UV-sensitive designs drawing from the European country’s vast natural landscapes to bring the passport pages to life.

RETINAA has included the nation’s landscapes into the fabric of the document itself by using 3D modeled reliefs that showcase a journey from Alpine peaks down to the valleys. Each page unfolds like a travelogue through the country’s 26 cantons. Apart from this, ultraviolet light also reveals hidden contour lines and architectural landmarks.

For example the ID page of the booklet centers on an image of the Pizzo Rotondo summit in Saint- Gotthard Massif and reveals curvilinear topographical lines under UV lights, while a two-page spread shows an aerial map of Alpine peeks features the Swiss cross at the center of each page, revealing Swiss architectural landmarks and more topographic lines under UV lights. The inside covers center on hydrological maps, showcasing one of Switzerland at the front and a world hydrological map on the backside.

The Swiss passport datapage contains the holders biometrics and thus requires the highest level of security. It is revealed that under UV light, a network of isolines physically and symbolically safeguard the holders data.