Studio A

John Kelly wrote a nice piece on the late artist Noah MacMillan is his column today. I had the pleasure of working with Noah on the forthcoming Women’s Soccer stamp. He will be missed.

Yesterday I spent the morning at the National Cryptologic Museum, just outside the NSA headquarters in Maryland. It was the First Day of Issue Ceremony for the stamp we designed commemorating the crucial contributions of women cryptologists during WWII.

The stamp reproduces a piece of the famous Japanese “Purple Code,” originally deciphered by Genevieve Grotjan. The code is combined with a texture of text for the title and blank rectangles suggesting redactions. This all overlays a blurred out image of a service woman of the era, as a stand-in for the thousands of women who worked these jobs anonymously.

For those interested in testing their cyphering ability, we added seemingly random letters (ZRPH QF UB SWRORJLVWV RIZRUOGZDULL, FLSKHU, DQDOBCH and VHFUHW) to the selvage (extra area on the stamp sheet) which can be deciphered. If you are stumped, the reverse side of the pane has the cipher needed to read the words.

A new stamp commemorating musician, singer, and social activist Pete Seeger was first issued in July at the Newport Folk Festival. During the process of creating this stamp, we had the pleasure of looking at hundreds of photos from throughout his career. Ultimately, we decided to go with an image showing a young Seeger singing and playing his iconic banjo. And as a bonus, the photo was taken by Seeger’s own son Dan.

The July/August issue of “Artists Magazine” has an article on Antonio’s work with the USPS stamp program. (The issue also has a nice story about how artists render perspective has evolved over time!). Check it out!

Last week the Goethe-Institut hosted a conversation with Dian Holton and Antonio about Dieter Rams’ “10 Principles of Good Design” and how Studio A’s work supports or diverges from those ideals. It was a fun morning talking about design and meaningful work. Danke schön Goethe Institut DC!

Next time you have a package to mail, use these new $2 or $5 stamps designed by SpaethHill design. The pattern is adapted from geometry found in many plant leaf patterns. The foil-stamping contrasts with the softer watercolor backgrounds. It was a pleasure working with Nathan and Jill on these beauties.
Time to mail someone a book!

A year ago the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery staff invited us to collaborate on the design of a special book cover. This catalogue commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Renwick—the nation’s premier museum dedicated to American craft.

Together, we developed a design using a vintage, black and white photo of the museum facade transformed into more than thirty different color combinations. The acetate “dustjacket” has “This Present Moment” (the title) screened on the front.

We couldn’t be more thrilled with how they look! Thanks to everyone at SAAM and the Renwick for including us in your celebration. And be sure to stop by and see the exhibition, up until April 2023.

Good news came from Print magazine yesterday who awarded a First Place to the Kwanzaa stamp we developed with art by Andrea Pippins. Thanks Print, Andrea, and USPS!

Today would have been the 100th birthday of Dr. Eugenie Clark. She was a pioneering marine biologist who demonstrated that lemon sharks could be trained to do complex tasks, disproved the notion that some shark species must keep swimming in order to survive, and debunked myths about sharks as vicious, fearsome creatures.

We are proud to have worked with the talented artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya to create a stamp honoring this great American scientist!

Last week the USPS issued a set of five stamps commemorating the great modernist artist George Morrison—an Ojibwe who had a deep interest in the natural world. We are proud to have worked with his beautiful artwork to create this set of stamps.

Well, imagine that! GD/USA named Antonio one of their “People to Watch in 2022.” And there he is on page 38 (photo by Cade Martin). Check out the many other interesting creatives in the issue including friends and colleagues Kim Berlin and Daniel Frumhoff. Thanks GD/USA!

Happy Lunar New Year! Everyone here at Studio A wishes you great happiness and prosperity! We had the good fortune to collaborate with artist Camille Chew in creating this year’s stamp celebrating the Year of the Tiger. We can’t wait to send some mail using these, and hope you’ll enjoy getting them on your cards and letters.

If you are in DC this week, and vaccinated, please come to the Smithsonian American Art Museum this Wednesday at 12:30 for the Edmonia Lewis Forever stamp First Day of Issue ceremony. Antonio worked with artist Alex Bostic to create this stamp commemorating this important 19th-century sculptor. The ceremony is free.

It’s amazing, wonderful, and gratifying that USPS issued these first-ever US postage stamps commemorating Día de los Muertos last month. Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead is a festive celebration of one’s ancestors. Adopted from Mexico and Central America it is now observed throughout the United States.

We were thrilled to work with Mexican American artist and designer Luis Fitch to create these colorful and beautiful stamps. They feature stylized, decorated calaveras or “sugar skulls” personalized as four family members: a child with a hair bow, a father sporting a hat and mustache, a mother with curled hair and another child. The lit candles flanking each sugar skull are beacons to guide deceased loved ones on their annual return journey to the land of the living. Dotting each stamp are marigolds (cempazuchitles), the most popular Day of the Dead flower. ¡Qué maravilloso! We hope you like them!

USPS just issued what we think is one of our most fun designs: Message Monsters. We collaborated with illustrator Elise Gravel on the these playful creatures, then added our own hand-lettered title. Around the edges are little stickers you can pull-up and use to personalize your creature/stamp and envelope. What do you think? Fun, right?