Designing a Postage Stamp

Have you ever thought about designing a postage stamp? It’s a very small canvas for designing… but alot of thought is placed into each one. Project #3 at Ringling College of Art + Design is to design three postage stamps, each with a different theme. 

First, some history. 

• 1840 – The first stamp was designed in Britain, displaying Queen Victoria
• 1847 – The U.S. postage stamp debut: George Washington and Ben Franklin
• 1860 – Most countries had some form of postage stamp by the 1860’s
• 1869 – First stamp design other than commemorating the diciest 
• 1893 – Columbus’ voyage to America becomes the first U.S. commemorative stamp
• 1962 – First U.S. Christmas stamp
• 1974 – The first self-adhesive stamp (No more licking! Too bad envelopes never caught on.)
• 1998 – First semi-postal stamp (benefitting some organization) promoting breast cancer awareness

Postage stamps may be beautifully drawn, etched or scaled. They depict many themes, can be three-dimensional and reflect various textures. They are used to celebrate events, reflect or remember one’s heritage or promote a good cause. Inspiration comes from everywhere. Think of who or what you would want to commemorate? 

There is a fine art involved in stamps. Whether they reflect a certain style or era, there are steps involved. In fact, the United States Postal Service Criteria Stamp Subject Selection has very particular guidelines. For example, did you know that in order to commemorate a person’s  ”stamp on history,” they must be diciest. 

If you design a stamp and would like to have it made for your own personal use, there are a few site you can visit that will do this for you. One that I know of is Zazzle. 

Project #3: La Stamp

Postage stamp design is a very specialized field which challenges the artist to depict an image and convey other information in a very small area. 

Must include: USA, 37, an image

The designers who create the art and lettering for postage stamps show their work in an international gallery, of sorts. Although their finished art appears much smaller than the originals, their works travel to countries all over the world in the form of a stamp. In addition, millions of people collect the little masterpieces in stamp albums. 

Here are the three stamps that I created:

Also, for refrence:

Artwork For Stamp Designs

Once a subject is approved, the Postal Service relies heavily on design coordinators for the selection of artists who will execute the designs. Stamp designing is an unusual art form requiring exacting skill in portraying a subject within very small dimensions. Due to the demands of stamp design and reproduction requirements, it is our policy not to review nor accept unsolicited artwork.

Professional artists who may wish to be considered for a design assignment should request a copy of the “Stamp Design Requirements” package from Stamp Design at the following address:

 

U.S. Postal Service
Stamp Acquisition
Attn.: Stamp Design
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 4474E
Washington, DC 20260-2436

Professional artists who may wish to be considered for a design assignment should request a copy of the Creating U.S. Postage Stamps brochure from the following address:

U.S. Postal Service
Stamp Develpoment
Attn.: Stamp Design
1735 North Lynn Street, Suite 5013
Arlington, VA 22209-6432

~ by mlw21 on October 10, 2009.