WEEK 35 - SOS: save our stamps
Hey there, thanks for joining us for Week 35 of HOMwork 2020!
In the postscript of last week’s assignment we mentioned Kristle’s This is Not a Bill project, where she makes handmade postcards for whoever requests one. Kristle (the in-house designer for Hom Sweet Hom) uses the good ol’ United States Postal Service for her passion project, so THIS week seemed like a great time to extend the USPS love with a fun HOMwork assignment: design a postage stamp!
We love the USPS here at Hom Sweet Hom because they are legendary for their support of great design. In fact, some of my favorite designers have had their art featured on USPS postage stamps: Louise Fili, Jessica Hische, Aaron Draplin, Elsa and Tyler Lang, and Dana Tanamachi. Even better, the support of excellent design is practically a USPS tradition; their archived postage stamps comprise a museum-worthy collection going back *literally* hundreds of years!
(Btw: Dana and the Langs both have some super rad stamps available right now if you wanna snag some.)
Beyond being supporters of great design, the USPS is just a kickass service. It’s amazing to me that in this day and age I can send a letter from NYC to California for 55 cents. Nothing costs 55¢ anymore! And did you know that the USPS serves every single address in the United States?! No matter how remote or extreme, the USPS will get there.
And then of course there’s the whole nostalgia thing. One of my earliest passion projects - Ex-Boyfriend Tears - was initially a product launch out of my own living room so I relied on the USPS big time. I have a lot of amazing memories about packing those hilarious flasks up and dropping the parcels off at my local post office.
TL;DR: I love the USPS. I love stamps - teeny pieces of functional art. And you *know* I love tootin’ the horn for a kickass organization or service.
Which leads me to this week’s assignment:
Your assignment: Design a postage stamp based on something you’re passionate about.
Thought starters: You can do one single design or a series (like my meals series nom nom nom). You might choose to illustrate a word, like Dana Tanamachi’s latest design, or a concept, like the coral reef stamps by Elsa and Tyler Lang.
Other possibilities for your stamp design:
Your favorite holiday
A significant event in your life
Something silly or irreverent
Your preferred letter of the alphabet
A cause you support
Something you wish people knew more about
Reason(s) to celebrate
Caption suggestions: Give your audience some insight about that thing you’re passionate about. If it’s something fun you could share details about how you first got into it, or about your design process for your stamp. If your subject matter is a cause or meant to raise awareness, explain why you care and why you hope others will, too.
Engagement tip: Ask your followers how they feel about real mail. Most people love getting real letters and parcels - but physical letters are one of the big drop-offs in USPS business. Start a conversation about how and why people use the USPS or send physical mail.
Creative tip: Try to distill your idea down into something that will display well and still be visually impactful at small sizes. A useful way to do this is to zoom out on your design as you’re working to get a feel for how it will look when it’s “small.”
Resources: Did you know the USPS is one of the oldest government services in the United States?! There’s a *ton* of history and information out there if you want to nerd out and head down a fascinating internet rabbit hole haha.
If you want to learn more about designing stamps, check out the “Design It!” educational program from the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. (The National Postal Museum is a great resource in general - history, images, famous people, just a ton of stuff!)
You can check out this informative Wikipedia article that breaks down the elements of a postage stamp.
Make sure to use the hashtag #HOMwork2020 and tag me @homsweethom when you post your postage stamp design to Instagram! I’ll be sharing some of my favorites in IG Stories all week.
x Lauren
PS: Bonus challenge - send some real mail to someone excellent. Use a stamp you love. (Did you know you can buy single stamps at your local post office?)
