STAMP IT

Revisiting the stamp it brief - following feedback to make the bikes more appropriate to an 'office environment' and creating a first day cover.

After the final crit with other members of the class, a lot of positive feedback was given, and the final products produced were chosen as the most effective out of a group of other people's finals.
The feedback received stated "We chose the 'cycle to work week' set of stamps because they are clear and offer a solution. They're memorable, the simple illustration is eye catching and fits the younger target audience. They work well as a set and individually. Clear research, the facts are really interesting and shocking. Aesthetically pleasing, would want to collect afterwards."
During a crit with Jo and Amber, feedback was also very positive, however a few improvements were suggested.
These included:
- Making a selection of the bikes more appropriate to an office environment through the use of appropriate imagery e.g. briefcase, tie, laptop, suit, paperwork, stationary
- Remove the http://www. from the web address as this is no longer necessary/needed, it will also allow for better use of space
- Use hand written text on the stamps as this will be more effective
- First day cover

Here some have the changes have been made, and office imagery has been added to the illustrations. Although it is evident that this makes it more relevant to the audience, only some of the bikes could actually work with this particular change. Whilst the bikes with the baskets obviously give scope to add something extra, there isn't much room on the other images. I feel to add these touches to the others would seem a little bit forced and also a little bit out of place.

 

I also had a go at using hand written text for the stamp itself. I tried it with a couple of different styles however I felt that it was much more readable and legible in caps. I feel it suits the style of the illustration, however I'm not sure whether or not it contrasts a little bit too much with the Queen's head and the '1ST' in the top corner. 

First Day Cover

Initially, I strangely struggled with the composition of my first day cover. I already had all the components that I needed to make it, however it just wasn't working. To begin with, i was trying to use the main cycle to work and bike image from my other cover, yet it clashed too much with the images of the stamps. It worked well for the other cover as they weren't visible from the outside.

After having a bit of a play around, I eventually decided to change the title around.

Also, I struggled slightly with the postal mark, as whatever colour I put it in, you were unable to read it. It also looked out of place within the layout. In the end, I kind of realised that realistically you don't need to be able to read it, and therefore experimented with the opacity in order to make it a little bit more subtle, and as though it was printed onto the cover.