“Breaking Through” Forever Stamps
Each day, the world becomes increasingly more complex through new innovations. How do we begin to honor the work of those that goes unnoticed?
The work of everyday people sets the world in constant motion. Humanity evolves daily. So many social factors, people, and events have led us to the world we experience today. Although it is impossible to fully understand the people that led us to this moment in time, I chose to recognize four revolutionary female inventors through my Breaking Through Forever Postage Stamps.
Students were tasked with creating the an original series of United States Postal Service (USPS) Forever Stamps. The stamps needed to follow the official criteria of USPS postage stamps. By combining a specific art movement with a chosen topic, students were asked to create and deliver four different stamp variations, a physical booklet of stamps (20 stamps), mock-up letters, and an instagram carousel post detailing the concept on a larger level.
Tools Used: Adobe Illustrator, Large Format Vinyl Cutter/Printer
Instructor: Carley Law
Course: DES 321 Images in Communication
Timeline: 4 weeks
Deliverables: 20 Stamp Booklet, 4 mock-up envelopes with the stamps, Instagram Carousel Post that gives a brief overview
Assignment Summary:
Forever Stamp Campaign
-Conceptualizing-
Before I designed potential project concepts, I chose the values I wanted to prioritize in my stamps. What did I want my stamps to communicate? I quickly came up with a brief list of the most powerful elements I saw when looking at other stamps the USPS produced. The stamps that caught my attention were seemingly ordinary but were more complex as you looked closer. I also found myself drawn to the stamps that were meaningful and spoke to some larger goal.
“The artistic stylings and values of the impressionists gave me the groundwork to honor the work of these four incredible women.”
-The Idea-
After about a week of more research and sketching, I stumbled upon the National Inventors Hall of Fame. As I looked at the long list of inventors and their creations, I gained a small perspective of all the various creations in our society that often go unnoticed. Jet engines, magnetic wire recorders, cruise control on cars, and amusement park theatrics are all inventions that someone created and are a big part of our everyday life. Without them, society would look very different.
Studying these inventors, I found the topic for my Forever Stamps. Specifically, I focused on the very few women in the list of inductees. Out of roughly 639 inventors, only 57 of them were women (roughly 0.7%). Not only do very few women appear on a list of names that go unnoticed, the names also get lost within the list itself. These female inventors disappeared into an ordinary life. But with a closer look, their stories were rich and complex and gave the world meaning.
-The Inspiration-
Neo-Impressionism and Color:
One of the art movements that immediately stuck out to me was Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism. This art movement occurred in the late 1800s where everyday scenes of nature were the focus. These pieces of art use form and color which fascinated me. By arranging color in a different way, these artist was able to capture the complexities in life by using very few colors.
-The Inventors-
-Chieko Asakawa-
Asakawa was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2019 for inventing the Home Page Reader which provided internet access for visually impaired users.
-Patricia Bath-
Bath was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2022 for the invention of laserphaco, a device that performs cataract removal.
-Mary Dell Chilton-
Chilton was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2015 for leading research that produced the first genetically engineered plants.
-Sumita Mitra-
Mitra was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2018 for creating the first dental filling materials to include nanoparticles.
-The Portraits-
-The Design-
-Color-
One of the things that drew me to the Impressionist movement was the artist’s use of color. I loved how they used bright and nonconventional colors to express everyday things. I wanted to bring this same vibrancy to these stamps. I settled on four main colors that I would modify and blend with one another to create gradients and transitions. These colors were offshoots of the pure pigments utilized by the NeoImpressionists.
I decided to assign each inventor two colors: one main color and one accent color. By using only four colors, I could visually show connectedness between each person. I used these colors for the background, the text, and each woman’s outfit. These colors also tied into the background gradient for the whole booklet.
-The Invention-
Line Graphic: The first idea I came up with was adding a simple lined graphic. I liked this idea, but I didn’t think it fit within the style of the composition as a whole. The National Inventors Hall of Fame logo also felt unnecessary because it was covered. The design felt very disjointed from the rest of the stamp both in placement and in art style.
Monochrome Graphic: To combat the disconnect formed by the line art, I tried creating a monochrome graphic in a similar style to the portrait. I didn’t like how these interacted with the rest of the stamp. It felt like it got lost within the rest of the piece. The National Inventors Hall of Fame logo also felt a bit lost within the piece.
Personal Seal: The final idea I landed on was a personalized stamp/seal. This combined the concept of the National Inventors Hall of Fame logo with invention itself. In the end, I went with this version because I fit the best within the design. It interacted well with the other elements and felt different enough to stand out but not appear out of place.
“I aimed to find the balance between the inventor’s portrait, her name, and her invention.”
The first thing I began creating were the portraits. I found the four photos I would use as references when illustrating and got to work.
First, I recreated the picture, as closely as I could. I layered different blocks of color on top of one another on Adobe Illustrator to try to capture the movement of the impressionists. Each portrait took on average 5 hours to complete. I created each women by layering different block of color over one another. Because I was trying to realistically convey these women, I wanted them to feel a little imperfect. They weren’t any different from you and me. They were people. Like the NeoImpressionists, I hoped the viewer’s eye would pull the portrait out of the blocks of color.
After several more rounds of refinement and revision, my Forever Stamp Booklet was finally complete. I had it printed and cut it out using a Large Format Vinyl Cutter/Printer.
I hope my stamps represent the values I set out to highlight: Ordinary, Complex, and Meaningful. These women have not only inspired me but many others as well. They are the perfect representation of those people invisible in our society yet vital.
I am inspired to continue to use my work to honor more people like these women. These are the people that make the world go around. Let us start to recognize the steps we took to get where we are.
“This project taught me that I have the ability to honor the people who truly make a difference in the world. I can make change, starting now.”
