Emancipation Proclamation Stamp

The USPS has released a stamp to commemorate the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.  The stamp was designed by Gail Anderson with the great Hatch Show Prints utilized to help with the typesetting. 

Renowned graphic designer Gail Anderson partnered with art director Antonio Alcalá to design the stamp.  It prominently features the phrase, “Henceforward Shall Be Free,” which is taken from the historic document. It also notes Abraham Lincoln’s name and the year the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. 

Anderson, known for her term as senior art director at Rolling Stone magazine and design of Broadway play posters, revels in making typography from old forms. To evoke the look of posters from the Civil War era, she tapped Hatch Show Print of Nashville, TN, to produce the Emancipation Proclamation stamp.  Established in 1879, Hatch is one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America and employs the motto, “preservation through production.”

The stamp is a great typographic design to honor this great moment. To view and purchase the stamp online visit this link. 

Titanic Stamps

The Edmonton Journal has a great collection of stamps to commemorative the sinking of the Titanic a hundred years ago today, April 15, 1912. Take a look and see how the world is remembering this event.

Industrial Design Stamps

The United State Postal Service has recently released this series of stamps to celebrate the Pioneers of American Industrial Design. The stamps feature 12 designers and a work from each. The mid-century designers that where selected include:

Peter Müller-Munk
Frederick Hurten Rhead
Raymond Loewy
Donald Deskey
Walter Dorwin Teague
Henry Dreyfuss
Norman Bel Geddes
Dave Chapman
Greta von Nessen
Eliot Noyes
Russel Wright
Gilbert Rohde

From the USPS site:

The Pioneers of American Industrial Design (Forever®) stamp pane honors 12 of the nation's most important and influential industrial designers. Encompassing everything from furniture and electric kitchen appliances to corporate office buildings and passenger trains, the work of these designers helped shape the look of everyday life in the 20th century.

Each stamp features the name of a designer and a photograph of an object created by the designer, as well as a description of the object and the year or years when the object was created. The selvage features a photograph of the "Airflow" fan designed by Robert Heller around 1937.

Art director Derry Noyes selected the objects that appear on the stamps.

The Pioneers of American Industrial Design stamps are being issued as Forever stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

To get your own copy of this exciting tribute go to your local post office or online.

I love the stamps and but only wish that the USPS would have included Eva Zeisel in the group. It would have been a fitting tribute to her and her beautiful work. Let hope the stamps are so successful that the USPS does another series in the very near future.

Beer Revenue Stamps

We think of stamps as a means to send a letter but stamps have also been used as a means to pay taxes on items such as beer. The detail that goes into these stamps no less then would be for postage to show that the tax was paid. See additional beer revenue stamps at this link on Arago.

The Civil War - 150 Years Later

The American Civil War started at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.

Decades of growing strife between North and South erupted in civil war on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it back.

The Library of Congress put up an excellent online exhibit "The Last Full Measure: Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family Collection" today. Well worth the time to see these amazing portraits.

The USPS also has issued two stamps to mark this anniversary of the Civil War. A big thumbs up to the USPS for moving to the "First Class Forever" stamps. I am still looking around for 2 cent stamps from the last postage increase.

Stamps to Inspire

I have always found that the art of postage stamps to be an area of massive inspiration as a designer. I see the design of stamps as a representation the times and the goals of countries in how they want their fellow citizens and the world to see them. Social movements, history, current events, culture and propaganda are shown in this smallest of formats that showcase style and design. Karen Horton has set up a Vintage Postage Stamp site on tumbir with some excellent examples for inspiration. Karen also keeps busy as the co-founder of the wonderful design:related website (great inspiration in it's self) and as an Art Director at Little, Brown and Company. Thank you Karen for spreading the word in the design world.

Olympic Stamps

Stamps have always be a popular way to communicate a special event such as the Olympics. The Olympics are one of those events that the world takes in and participants in every few years. The design of Olympic stamps are as varied as the countries and athletics. Take a few moments a enjoy a nice collection of vintage Olympic Stamps at this link.

2012 London Olympic Stamps

Chicago did not get the Olympic games but London did in 2012. The Royal Mail is releasing this first set of stamps to commemorate the event. Additional sets are due out in the two years to come.

The first set of stamps include an illustration of canoe slalom by John Royle and Paralympic archery illustrated by George Hardie. There is a track athletics collage by Nathalie Guinamard and a diver by Julian Opie. Boccia is illustrated by David Doyle while the judo image was drawn by Paul Slater and the Paralympic dressage by Andrew Davidson. A shuttlecock by David Holmes was used as the image for badminton, while weightlifting was designed by Guy Billout and basketball by Huntley Muir.

To view more of the 2012 Olympics go to these sites set by the 2012 Olympics and the Guardian News in England.

The logo for the 2012 Olympics still has not grown on me though.

Two Million Dollars in Lincoln Stamps

An auction was held this past week in NYC for a stamp collection of Abraham Lincoln stamps that brought in nearly $2 million. The collection was amassed with standard stamps, Lincoln tax stamps, private issues, postal ephemera, and proofs and test printings of designs and colors that were not adopted. The above stamps are a mint-condition block of six 90-cent stamp issued in 1869. These mint stamps are said to be the largest such block of these rarities to survive, selling for $149,600. Read all about it at the New York Times.

(image Spink Shreves Galleries)

The Simpsons Go Postal

The Simpsons are going "postal" and getting official USPS stamps. The Simpsons show is now the longest running comedy on US television in it's 20th year. To honor this event, the USPS has decided to release a group of stamps showing Homer, Bart and the rest of Simpson family. The stamps will be good for 1st class postage and available nationwide on May 7th.

From the official USPS press release comes these comments:
“We are excited to celebrate The Simpsons on postage stamps,” said U.S. Postal Service Executive Director of Stamp Services David Failor. “Eyebrow-raising to say the least, this witty, well-written pop icon continues to irreverently satire its parody of a middle-class family as it lampoons American culture. The Simpsons stamps, which includes known philatelists Bart Simpson, will serve as a great opportunity to interest youngsters into stamp collecting.”

“This is the biggest and most adhesive honor The Simpsons has ever received,” said Matt Groening, creator and executive producer of The Simpsons.

“We are emotionally moved by the Postal Service selecting us rather than making the lazy choice of someone who has benefited society,” said James L. Brooks, executive producer of The Simpsons.

To see more and to order your Simpson stamps visit this link to the USPS.

Alphabet Stamps

New Zealand released this cool set of 26 stamps last year. The stamps represent all things New Zealand. Check out the full collection at this link.

Stamps by Design

The Royal Mail of Britain will be issuing this great series of stamps to celebrate British Design. The stamps will be available in the UK on January 13th of 2009. The stamps show some of the UK's great design contributions from the mini skirt, to the Concorde to the Mini. In 2008, the USPS released a series of stamps celebrating Eames Design and 2009 looks like it will be just as good with the Royal Mail. Here is to the continued celebration and acknowledgements of our craft!

(via Creative Review)

Swiss Stamps

This great stamp design to help rain awareness about world hunger comes from Switzerland.
(via acejet170)

Stamps of Israel

It was 60 years ago that modern Israel was founded in 1948 and this week marks the Jewish New Year of 5769. In honor of this I wanted to review a few stamps that Israel has created over the past few years. This first stamp is in celebration of the 60th anniversary. The stamp shows a child making a 60 out of a ribbon. The design is creative and shows the youthful spirit that is Israel. You can feel the movement created in this image.

The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Holocaust is shown through this wonderful graphic of barbwire and a flower. The design is simple and powerful of the slogan, Remembrance and Beyond. Let us never forget.

Israel is a progressive country yet understanding of it's rich history. These additional stamps show some of this tradition and look towards the future. Shana Tova.