Stamps

Stamps are tiny typographic worlds. There are practical issues: one must be able to read the value and origin and successfully determine which side is up. In a series, stamps need to share some characteristics in order to become part of a whole. Some elements are repeated, others are variations on a theme.

The stamp machine produces a full sheet of stamps in one go. Each stamp can choose from a limited number of options for each element: the country name, the value, the background color and an abstract illustration. The limited number of choices (as opposed to a fully random approach) means that elements will repeat but in different contexts. Repetition and variation.

The result is a sheet of stamps that is clearly part of a series, but also contains unique and surprising forms. Building this system invites the designer to formulate rules and ideas about stamps.

With an electronic future ahead of them, the design of stamps is in danger. Barcodes printed on stickers work just as well. What if electronic postage was designed to provide the variation? Stamp machines like this could make unique images which can be read by a machine but are still interesting to the human eye.