ART 307 Project 4 Process Book Postage Stamp Design Cindy Dong Table of Content Project Statement and Goals 3 Competitive Analysis 4-5 Mind Map 6 Research 7-8 Mood Board 9 Personas 10 Ideation 11 Final Solution 12 Conclusion 13 Attribution and Citation 14-16 Project Statement and Goals The goal of the project is to create a series of postage stamp that complements one another in some ways. The stamp series will also have one common theme or topic that have a historical, environment, or social significance. In this case, the topic I’ve chosen are drinks that represents different seasons. This topic would be significant socially because it highlights how the general public views each season. Those views would also influence in the activities done on those seasons such as the consumption of different drinks that are suitable for each season. The drinks chosen for each season would be base on color, holiday, flavor, culture, and temperature. The illustration of the stamps would be drawn on Photoshop. 3 Competitive Analysis Early Stamp Design The first design of postage stamp dates back to mid 17th century England. The first postage stamp was named “Penny Black” and was design by an artist named William Wyon. Wyon’s creation of the Penny Black stamp was significant because it marks the beginning of changes brought to postal services around the world. The early versions of this stamp contained as image rendering of Queen Victoria. The versions of this stamp that follows contained British monarchs that succeeded Queen Elizabeth. This stamp was also significant because it was an exception to the 1874 British law which required stamp to have the name of the country on it. Because the stamp was already identified using portraits of British monarchs, the Universal postal Union decided that it was unnecessary to include “Great Britain” on the stamp. Stamp Inspirations The Arizona postage stamp was a redesign by Marie Lee. The focus was on the natural objects Arizona is known for, which includes the cacti and the succulents. What I enjoyed most about the stamp was the intricate designs done on the background and the use of different colors for each stamp. The way the designer unified the series was through typeface and colors, which gave me some ideas how to approach some design issues I was having difficulties with early on when coming up with ideas on making my stamps more cohesive. 4 Competitive Analysis This stamp series created by Mari Klishina had a very unique approach of unifying the series. Besides the text and color palette, another thing that made the stamps consistent was the height label of the different mountains located in Ykpaiha, Ukraine. Although the piece didn’t inspire me to make stamps based on drinks, the piece showed me a new way of making the stamps look more unified depending on the topic. 5 Mind Map 6 Research The research for this project were based off of the drinks that are selected for different seasons according to my mind map. Cherry Blossom Tea Cherry blossom tea is commonly known as “Sakurayu” in Japanese. The main ingredient for this tea is pickled cherry blossoms, which was harvested and obtained during spring time. Other ingredients include kosher and ume plum vinegar. The tea has its unique flavor and is known for having a tiny bit of salty flavor , with a cherry blossom after taste. Not only was this tea a famous “spring drink” in Japan, people also drink this tea during special occasions like weddings in Japanese culture. Before making the tea, the flower was first harvested from the tree before its full bloom. After washing the flowers, kosher salt were added to the blossoms. The flowers were then preserved in pickling crock for two days. Ume salt were then added to the flowers after removing the water and kosher salt. After 3 days, the flowers were then drained and salt was added. After its dried, the flowers are ready to be brewed. Island Cooler Island Cooler is mostly known as an summer alcoholic drink. The ingredients varies between different bars/places that sells them. Some ingredients would include: Appleton V/X, fresh lime, Allspice syrup, pineapple juice, lime wheel, ice cubes, etc. In some places, Island Cooler could also be a non-alcoholic drink. The non-alcoholic version of the ingredient would include: lemon juice, orange juice, papaya juice, sparkling water, maraschino cherry, and pineapple spear. The flavor of the drink were mostly described as sweet. fruity, and refreshing. The drink was chosen for the project because it was commonly associated as a tropical, exotic drink due to its flavor and appearance, which is suitable for a summer drink. 7 Research Pumpkin Spice Latte Pumpkin spice latte was created by the famous coffee shop chain, Starbucks in 2003 and was officially released as a drink in the fall of the same year. Starbucks’s intention of creating the drink was to sell it as a seasonal drink for fall. The creation of this drink took place in the Liquid Lab in Seattle. The ingredients are pumpkin spice sauce, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, espresso, steamed milk, whip cream, and pumpkin pie topping. The drink quickly became popular after it’s release and has been a fall drink preference in the US since then. During 2015, the ingredients of the pumpkin spice latte were updated to include more natural ones like the pumpkin puree. Some of the artificial ingredients and colorings were removed, which caused the flavor of the drink to be controversial amongst the customers. Hot Chocolate The consumption of hot chocolate during cold weather dates back to 3000 to 4000 years ago with it’s main ingredient being the cocoa plant. The drink originated in Mesoamerica and was developed by the Olmec tribe. It was known as the “Xocolātl“ during the time and was consumed during religious ceremonies. The drink was later on passed on to the Maya tribe, then the Aztec tribe, and then all the way to the American colonists thousands of years later. The drink quickly became a popular drink during war time (Revolutionary War, WW1, and WW2) and during the winter because of it’s nutritional benefits throughout American history. Some of it’s health benefits are reduction of high blood pressure, increase blood flow, improve mood, protection against certain cancer, etc. It’s risk includes type 2 diabetes if overly consumed. Today, the drink was consumed regularly and was sold in different stores which includes coffee chains like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, fast food restaurants like Mcdonalds, etc. Winter versions of the drink would include marshmallow, whip cream, peppermint, mocha sauce, etc. 8 Mood Board Before starting on my stamps, I looked up images of drinks for different seasons as well as tea cups and glass cups for the drinks. 9 Personas Hayley (Tourist) Haley is a tourist who recently left on a trip to New York. She would be interested in postage stamps that are available to use within the U.S.. because she would like to use for sending souvenirs to her friends and family back in her home state. Since she also wanted a stamp with a more relaxed, casual, and everyday subject, she would be interested in viewing stamps that are related to drinks. Sky (Post Office Manager) Sky is a post office manager working for a post office in the US. Because she manages the post office and postal services, she would be interested in viewing a different variety of postage stamps that could be available to sell in postal offices. 10 Ideation Color Palette #f8b9c3 #ffffff #fff4dd #c96078 #ebc78d #b88376 #e0eff6 #b79752 #b0d2ea #b88376 #8c8280 #aa6027 #f8a47d #fdd6ba #e0a6b3 #006d98 Font: Jost Originally I thought of selecting green as the background for summer when making the A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O mind map, but I realized that yellow would be a more suitable choice because of the P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a b c d name and the appearance of the drink,”Island e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Cooler.” This made me change my mind and used yellow instead of green. w x y z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 As for the font, I originally thought Serif font would go well with Spirax. After receiving Font: Spirax feedbacks on giving san serif fonts a try, I picked Jost. Because certain characters of the A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O two fonts resemble with each other (such as the lower case a), Jost would complement nicely with P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a b c d e Spirax since they both have a double storey a. Some f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x San Serif fonts would have a (single storey a), which makes some san seif fonts not as suitable y z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 as Jost. 11 Final Solution 12 Conclusion Because I don’t see stamps that often (after elementary school or middle school) anymore due to how mailing things(like report cards) becoming internet dependent, it was difficult to find an idea for the project. This makes the project a great learning experience in practicing how to make a series of something that goes together in terms of style or topic.