Stamps don’t usually get me excited (although I do remember collecting them when I was a boy), but a recent mailer about the latest set from Royal Mail caught my attention. Advertising the new British Design Classics issue, the set available from 13 January does exactly what the title states, and celebrates 10 icons of 20th Century British design.
According to Royal Mail, the final collection of objects depicted were drawn up from a shortlist and decided upon by ‘a panel of experts from the world of design’. The square and crisp looking 35mm x 35mm stamps have been lovingly and exhaustingly created by HGV who shot every icon for real, travelling the length and breadth of the country and beyond.
Spanning 40 years, the stamps’ oldest icon is Sir Giles Scott’s K2 telephone box. Harry Beck’s map of the London Underground, George Carwardine’s anglepoise lamp, R J Mitchell’s Spitfire, and Edward Young’s covers for Penguin books follow next. The Routemaster bus, Sir Alec Issigonis’ Mini, Robin Day’s polypropylene chair, Mary Quant’s mini skirt, and Concorde round off the collection.
The set of stamps is available in nine formats, along with five additional sets, hailing both the Mini’s and Concorde’s achievements and contributions to British culture. A first day cover was even available with a choice of Concorde or Longbridge post marks; a nod to the British Motor Corporation’s Birmingham plant where the Mini was manufactured.
The stamps took my fancy so much that I am now the proud owner of the Prestige Stamp Book set, which along with the stamps in commemorative panes, features a well researched booklet containing facts about the iconic designs. It’s all presented very nicely, and fittingly, the stamps could very well become future British Design Classics themselves.
Check back on goodrichard.com from Monday, when two of the British Design Classics stamps will be highlighted each day for five days – starting with Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s K2 telephone kiosk – where we’ll be looking at each stamp’s iconic object in more detail.
Tags: British Design Classics, Culture, Design