Something to declare? Design ideas for a new UK passport

From transparent pages to a handy lanyard – competition entries give their ideas for a post-Brexit travel document.

The UK may abandon its current burgundy passport once it has quit the European Union and in anticipation, Dezeen magazine has invited readers to submit proposals for a new-look document.

Editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs said: "It's time to start thinking about what image the UK wants to project and trying to create a positive vision for the future. A new passport could help achieve that."

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Dezeen has just announced its shortlist. Here are nominations.

Tiny suitcase

In the hands of architectural assistants Eric Wong and Elliot Jefferies, the UK passport assumes the appearance of a small black suitcase embossed with gold foil. The visa pages inside are transparent and display an X-ray of items the traveller might pack.

Traveller

Architect Hannah Perry's passport shows a perforated map of the United Kingdom on a matte-blue background. Each visa page contains a pastel pattern based on a section of UK coastline and overlaid by travel quotations.

Odd one out

Perhaps significantly, Greek/German design duo Billy Kiosglou and Frank Philippin have chosen to list the names of every country in the world on their passport, with "United Kingdom" highlighted in red. The front cover lists countries in order of immigrant population and the back in order of emigrants.

Modern citizenship

Designers Steph Roden and Sarah Bethan Jones believe conventional notions of Britishness do not represent the UK's multicultural society and so have produced a minimalist red passport cover. Inside, the brightly coloured, perforated visa pages have to be torn open by immigration officials.

Weather chat

Britain's notorious weather was the inspiration for this passport by Norwegian design student Silje Bergum. Visa pages include interpretations of weather phenomena such as hail (blue dots on a page) and a sun shower (blue stripes). The predominantly grey cover is intended to evoke fog.

Conversation starter

The lanyard attached to this passport by London-based design studio Special Projects encourages users to wear it round the neck. Inside the iridescent cover, the visa pages aim to mend the bonds broken by Brexit with handy translations of foreign phrases.

Phase out

The colour at the bottom of the cover is burgundy, representing the current EU passport, but by the top it has gradually turned to the dark blue of Britain's pre-EU passport. The visa pages are blank. Designer Ian Macfarlane calls it an "honest reflection of the pre and post-referendum spirit".

Hyper local

Dutch designers Tim Gambell and Alfons Hooikaas have taken a local approach, imagining that each UK town might have its own cover based on heraldic-looking symbols. The visa pages further personalise the passport by displaying data and imagery relating to the holder, taken off social media.

Full UK

Designer Mark Noad offers a selection of three passports for Full United Kingdom residents. The first, marked "FUK-U", is for "true Brits". The second, labelled "FUK-R", is for the UK's non-British residents. And the third, a diplomatic passport, carries the legend "FUK-D" and aims to represent the UK's standing in the world.