The bank puts it this way: the series strikes a balance between simplicity and clarity in design on one hand and sophistication in security features on the other. The back of each denomination has its own theme, and all the themes come from the biography of the country's first President: Education, Garden City, Sports, Arts, Youth, Government and Economics. The bank has issued polymer notes of this denomination since 18 May 2007; before that date the denomination was printed on paper.

The obverse shows the portrait that gives the series its name, together with the Singapore Coat of Arms, a watermark of the same portrait, the Singapore Lion symbol, the word «Singapore» in the four official languages, and the signature and seal of the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Currency Singapore or of the Chairman of the Monetary Authority. The reverse shows the theme «Garden City»: a dramatic Garden City landscape dominated by the portrayal of the old tembusu tree. A banknote of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from the fourth series, the Portrait Series.

The Singapore dollar is collected by series: Portrait since 1999, Ship of 1984–1999 and Bird of 1976–1984 are different designs, and within the Portrait Series one and the same denomination comes both on paper and on polymer, with different signatures and issue marks. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

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