Steve KelseyIt all began with a move
In 1991 I had found a house in Ealing for my wife and our two beautiful young daughters and my son, who was due to arrive soon after the move. I had created some capital with the growth in value of my flat in the East End of London, a stones throw from Hackney where my mum had been born. I needed a mortgage for the rest of the cost of the house in Ealing. I had been with the NatWest bank since I had moved to London to study design, so I put in a call to the Bloomsbury Parr branch and the mortgage was arranged.
What is Money? The question popped into my head as I was shifting boxes while the girls helped by sitting on the stairs crayoning the walls. As a designer I had learnt to trust those moments. Design often happens at a subconscious level where a great deal of associative activity goes on until, pop, there it is, the unique combination of observations that solves the problem. Although it was a question rather than an answer, it had the same qualitative heft to it, the same solid impact that an inspiration has. It was a question that I had never asked before. What is money? Where does it come from? Who invented it?