Author Topic: Stamps/Graphic Design  (Read 12641 times)

Offline Mardukas

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Stamps/Graphic Design
« on: August 13, 2016, 06:48:57 PM »
I don't know how much, if any, crossover there is between movie poster collecting and stamp collecting but I thought this was worth sharing; it's a recently published, beautifully put together art book by two graphic designers showcasing their modernist-style stamp collections. It's called Graphic Stamps and is available from the publisher here:https://www.uniteditions.com.

I haven't looked at stamps from a collecting perspective since I was a kid but this book has had me poring over these miniature works of art on EBay fairly obsessively for the past couple of weeks. And they are a lot easier to store than the movie posters!

There is a good article by one of the authors talking about his collection at this graphic design blog: http://grainedit.com/2008/05/20/modern-design-and-the-stamp-iain-folletts-stamp-collection/

Offline Mardukas

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2016, 05:57:29 PM »
BTW an addendum to the above. I'm sure many of you know this already, but while doing some digging on this stuff, I discovered one significant crossover between stamps and movie posters: Drew Struzan has painted a fair few stamps for the USPS. Most famously, he produced a Star Wars set, but has also painted images of Hollywood legends including James Stewart and John Wayne among other subjects.

Offline Harry Caul

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2016, 07:02:18 PM »
Nice link!  I don't collect stamps personally, but one of the first people I started following on Instagram is someone who goes by @mintneverhinged.  I was blown away by some of the awesome, modern designs.  I asked them and they said to their knowledge none of the designs were ever printed in full poster size.  Such a shame...

Here are a few incredible examples to whet your appetite, but check out the full feed -- it's well worth it:


Offline Mardukas

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2016, 05:54:04 AM »
Thanks, Matt, those really are amazing. Some of those would look great as posters. I've started buying a few of these kinds of stamps (sadly, none of the ones you posted) and while they are beautiful to look at, they would be even nicer in a larger format!

Incidentally, I believe the guy behind the mintneverhinged feed is one of the authors of the 'Graphic Stamps' book I posted about. There is a similar feed by the other author of the book on Instagram, under the username Graphilately -- well worth checking out as well!

Offline paul waines

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2016, 11:20:43 AM »
I don't collect Stamps as such, but have a thousand or so handed down to me, and also a few I picked up as a kid.   Oddly I still keep stamps from packages sent to me that I like the look of...

I think these are just the run of the mill kind of ones, no great designs, or value to them. ..as far as I can remember.

I'd post some pics, but don't want you guys falling asleep at the computer...  wynk
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Offline Mardukas

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2016, 12:37:45 PM »
Paul, if your stamps are even a fraction as good as your film posters, I don't think there'd be any danger of that  ;D

Offline paul waines

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2016, 02:17:42 AM »
You sweet talker you... ;)

I can post a few pics, but I think you'll be disappointed.  Though for the UK people old enough, I have the stamp designed by a Blue Peter viewer for Christmas one year....    :o 
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Offline paul waines

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2016, 06:58:08 AM »
OK, I warned you...












A brief selection...
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Offline paul waines

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2016, 06:59:35 AM »
If I have anything worth thousands do let me know.... ;D
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Offline Mardukas

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2016, 01:14:45 PM »
That's quite the collection there, Paul!

I can see some in your album that are featured in the Graphic Stamps book. As to whether they're worth thousands, I'll defer to the experts on that! 

Offline Harry Caul

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2016, 01:45:40 PM »
Ha! Awesome Paul!  Thanks for posting these. 

And sorry, but I have NO IDEA regarding prices!

Offline paul waines

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2016, 11:57:03 AM »
I did some checking years back, I think the most expensive one was around £1.50... eyeroll 
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Offline Mardukas

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #12 on: September 03, 2016, 01:09:49 PM »
With stamps, I've discovered £1.50 goes a long way!

Inspired by the book and Instagram feeds such as the one Matt mentioned, I have been buying a few stamps and the older ones are a lot cheaper than the newer ones. I picked up a couple of sets from the 1960s that were a few pence each, newer ones were several pounds (none of this is costing big bucks...)

The stamp dealers say it's because in the pre email era so many millions of stamps were printed they have never become scarce whereas, today, a lot fewer are made plus their face value is a lot more than it ever used to be.

It's been an interesting diversion from the posters, especially given the way the dollar has strengthened against the pound over the past couple of months, which has pushed up the price of every poster in the US for us in the UK.

Offline paul waines

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #13 on: September 04, 2016, 10:55:17 AM »
That seems to make a lot of sense.

Luckily I'm not buying too many posters of late, the odd one from the UK. So the Dollar/Pound thing hasn't affected me much.. 
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Offline Mardukas

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #14 on: August 25, 2017, 09:21:17 AM »
At the top of this thread, I wondered if there was much overlap between poster collecting and stamp collecting. Here's one example of where worlds collide - Portugal has just issued some Star Wars stamps to mark the original film's 40th anniversary, including these three that reproduce the re-release posters:

http://wopa-stamps.com/index.php?controller=country&action=stampProduct&id=38842

Offline Mardukas

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Re: Stamps/Graphic Design
« Reply #15 on: June 18, 2018, 10:42:21 AM »
I know there are a few fans of Stanley Kubrick's 2001 on APF, so post the below in case anyone is interested; a new stamp set issued by the Isle of Man to mark the film's 50th anniversary.

https://www.wopa-plus.com/en/stamps/product/&pid=45995

I know stamps aren't everyone's cup of tea but I thought these looked pretty decent.