During a recent clear-out I unearthed my old stamp album. It’s probably not cool to confess to being a former stamp collector, but I don’t mind admitting that the gems in this album provided not only memories but graphic inspiration...
Surely everyone over a certain age at least dabbled in stamp collecting? Who never asked “Can I have the stamp?” when mail arrived from exotic-seeming destinations like Spain? I clearly remember steaming President Franco’s duotoned face off postcards from the Costa Brava.
School kids were encouraged to collect stamps because it instilled interest in world geography, but it was the look and colours of stamps that intrigued me more than where they came from. Clutched in tweezers, each stamp was avidly examined through a magnifying glass before being stuck, with a Stanley Gibbons stamp hinge, in the album. I was fascinated by the details and designs – every stamp was a miniature work of art. Although I didn’t know what graphic design was then, I reckon stamps were what sparked my interest in it.
Originally it was the pictures on stamps that appealed to me. Now I can appreciate the innovative layouts,the typography and the printing techniques. These are all the more impressive because of the minute scale involved and the very idea that such creativity was lavished on something that would normally be consigned, without a glance, to the bin.
Probably because I wasn’t a true philatelist and only interested in the nice pictures, I liked stamps to look pristine. To my naive mind blurry frank marks spoiled their purity. I now appreciate that franks give stamps a back story and prove authenticity. They also create the distressed, multi-layered look that designers and illustrators often strive to emulate.
Go on, dig out your own stamp album from wherever you hid it – you’ll find inspiration within.
