Stamp Designing: Behind the Scenes

Following on the heels of the exciting announcement of the new Postcrossing stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service (I should be receiving my pre-order this Friday; see my previous entry on this topic), the folks at Postcrossing interviewed Antonio Alcalá, an art director at the USPS. It’s a wonderful interview and very heartening to know that he really understands the postcrossing project and even participated in it before time constraints drew him away.

Designing something as tiny as a postage stamp is one of the most difficult challenges I can imagine, and it’s no wonder that each set of stamps takes about three years from concept to counter. As Alcalá says, a stamp is part of a country’s brand. How many stamps do you issue in a series? (the more, the greater the cost and also time commitment.)

The USPS has been going through the wars in the past few years but it remains an excellent service. I am happy to add to its coffers in my own tiny way by my postcard habit. Below is the card I received yesterday from Ukraine; the sender not only wrote a lovely message (and selected birds for me, which a surprising number of people manage to do), but also responded to my acknowledgment in which I sent sympathy for what her poor country’s been going through. It is an awesome way to connect with people all over the world, a light touch in a heavy time.