Studio A

One benefit to being an older designer is AARP might make a great little video about the work you do! Thanks to David Friedman and his crew for this piece on how stamps get designed.

How Stamps Get Designed: The Stamp Designer

Here’s a link to the NYTimes review of “The Art of The Qur’an” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery. We had the honor and pleasure of designing the catalogue for the show. Here also are a few photos taken during a recent visit. Be sure to see the show!

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/arts/design/the-art-of-the-quran-a-rare-peek-at-islams-holy-text.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=2

Thanks Print magazine! We recently found out three of our stamp designs were selected for inclusion in their upcoming Regional Design Annual. The winners won’t be published until their December issue, but you can our designs here. Thanks also to the late Martín Ramírez, Jessica Hische, and Michael Dyer for the beautiful artwork!

An older stamp, but new recognition (third project down). We are always grateful for the kind words: “11 Beautiful Handlettered Projects”

Day 3 of a 4-day, 24/7 press inspection requiring two designers in shifts supervising the job. So far it looks good! Here’s the requisite photo of a sheet fresh off the press. More photos when the book is done and the exhibition opens October 15th!

Thank you to the “Society of Printers” in Boston for inviting Antonio to speak at the “Club of Odd Volumes.” It was a great evening making new friends and meeting old acquaintances!

Nice to know Aaron Gilchrist, morning anchor at NBC Channel 4 news, likes the new designs. We worked with Heads of S=tate in Philadelphia to create this set of four stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek TV Series. On sale now!

Take a look at: Star Trek Gets Forever Stamps Ahead of 50th Anniversary

We had the great privilege and honor to design this catalogue for the exhibition “Harlem Heroes: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten” that recently opened at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. Harlem Heroes: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten

Next time the postal clerk wants to slip you a booklet of flag stamps, be sure to ask for the Patriotic Spirals instead. Stick these on your next letter and you’ll be sharing the beautiful work of the talented designers Lindsay Mannix, Gavin Wade, and Jason Mannix from Polygraph. Art direction by Antonio. (Polygraphcreative.com)

Once again we had the pleasure of working with the Smithsonian Office of Advancement and Marcela Luna on the Smithsonian’s Annual Report. Highlighting activity from 2015 and plans for the future, “Now+Next” features foldouts, short summaries, and great photography. Go Smithsonian!

Thank you Steven Heller for today’s “Daily Heller” post about our Planet and Pluto stamp designs! http://ow.ly/JlWb301yWVQ

It’s always good when your work gets a credit in the New York Times: http://ow.ly/EJGF300Pw0m

The best thing about being at the World Stamp Expo in NYC, is looking for great examples of graphic design: Venezuela celebrating the 204th birthday of the Chilean independence fighter with an Irish last name surrounded by Arp-like art, a beauty from Austria published just last year, a stamp by Swiss video artist Pipilotti Rist to commemorate the sense of taste (And yes, if you’re going to use it, you have to lick it), and a stamp titled for some odd reason “Youth Trends” from the Netherlands.

USPS released images of another sheet of stamps we designed that will be issued later this spring. Here’s what they wrote about these stamps:
“With this pane of 16 Forever stamps, the Postal Service showcases some of the more visually compelling full-disk images of the planets obtained during this era. Eight new colorful Forever stamps, each shown twice, feature Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Some show the planets’ “true color”—what we might see if traveling through space. Others use colors to represent and visualize certain features of a planet based in imaging data. Still others use the near-infrared spectrum to show things that cannot be seen by the human eye invisible light.”

We’re excited about starting a new museum project. The content is always so interesting, and we love learning new information. And a bonus: this one comes with incredibly beautiful images! Look for more information this fall.