5 posts tagged “stamps”

I designed the following FDC and Logo after checking out Royal Mail's stamp issue for the month of October, 2008 - took me 10 seconds to think up the logo;).  The highlight of the FDC design is not the design of the cover, which is quite straightforward and simple, but the logo.  It comprises the female symbol turned into a 'torch'.  I wrote to the Fawcett Society to ask if they would consider this for their logo as they don't seem to currently have one.  I also thought that they could endorse this FDC and perhaps launch it to coincide with Royal Mail's issue of the said stamps.  The logo could also be turned into a postmark and imprinted on the stamps on the FDC.  Anyway, it's just one of my many ideas in many arenas which, I suppose, will not see the light of day (due to various types of discrimination...which is quite interesting from a sociological perspective) - which has led to me producing less ideas these days.  Never mind.  At least it is done eh.:)

By the way, in case you're wondering, I'm a feminist myself.  I'm of what I call, 'The Integrational School', as opposed to (what I term) The Assimilationist or Progressive school - (assimilationist - seeking to be like men, progressive - seeking more rights of self-determination....my 'integrational school' comprises the latter and also calls for men to become more like women as opposed to women seeking to become as fu*ked up as men;) )  I suppose, in that sense, the torch symbol below illustrates my view as traditional femininity as a 'light/beacon for humanity'.  This is a movement away from the commonly used fist-in-female symbol which is quite associated with a fight for 'equality' which is a bit off from my 'Integrational' perspective.

ed

updated 12th June 2008

The following is my first attempt at 'first day cover' design.  This one coincides with Royal Mail's release of the 'Classic Carry On & Hammer Films' series on the 10th of June, 2008 -  depicted as the 'ticket number' on the first design.  All my designs are supposed to be printed as envelopes with the released series of stamps affixed on them as illustrated.  Did it just for fun.  Hope you like it:) 

After the following, you can see the designs by the main cover producers in the UK in case you might be interested in acquiring them.

(my art repository - ARTiculate.vox.com)

By ed

By Royal Mail  Their 'first day covers' are sold out after the 'date of issue'.  They however do have other related products that are sold online whilst stocks last.  I got almost all the various items for this series.  Great customer service.

By Norvic Philatelics

If you're interested in Royal Mail First Day Covers but missed the release date, you can still acquire them from Norvic Philatelics after the date of issue.  Norvic has great customer service and you can skype Ian - the bloke running the company - and chat with him about what you need.  They accept PayPal, amongst others, and will try to acquire covers for you even if they are out of stock.  I would indeed recommend them.

By Buckingham Covers (largest cover producer in the UK) - signed 'Tribute to Christopher Lee' cover.  Available on their site.  Their designs are a bit dated and lack what I term, metaphorical creativity, but the value of their covers tend to be drawn from the autographs and limitedness - that unfortunately tends to distract one from the art behind the whole thing.

ed

I purchased a Miniature Sheet Album from Royal Mail and, whilst expecting it to contain 30 pages, found only 9. (ref. image below).

What do you think?

The last line of the encircled paragraphs states, 'The Album holds 30 Miniature(stamp) Sheets'.  What would you think if you were in my position.  Would you, for instance think that it only came with 10 pages and that you had to purchase an additional 20 pages for it to 'hold 30 Miniature(stamp) Sheets'?  Basically, for it to 'hold 30 Miniature Sheets', can it not be assumed that it holds 30 pages to hold the said 30 Miniature Sheets since nothing less than that can hold 30 Miniature Sheets?  Not according to Royal Mail.

Upon seeking clarification from Royal Mail, I was told,

“ The Mini sheet album comes with 10 pages so I am arranging for an additonal page to be sent.  Sorry your mini sheet album received only had 9 pages.

The Album can hold 30 mini sheets but does not come with this number of
sheets in the album.

Additional pages can be purchased PA699 costing £3.45 for a packet of 10
plus a handling charge of £1.45 to a UK address. ”

 
So I had to spend another £8.35 to get what I was led to believe I was getting with the initial purchase?  Hmmm.
In response, I wrote to Royal Mail and stated that they ought to have stated, 'The album contains 10 pages and holds up to 30 or more stamp sheets upon purchase of additional pages'.  All I got was,

“Thank you for taking the time to comment on the website and mini sheet album.  We always value customer feedback and this has been noted. ”

Well, I wrote to them and told them that I expected Royal Mail to honour their claim that the Album holds 30 sheets and send me the additional 20 pages as there was no factual basis upon which I might assume that the album did not contain 30 pages, and that i had to fork out more money for it do so.

In response, I got none, except 10 pages in the mail the next day - which brought my total page-count to 19 instead of the expected 30.

 

To Royal Mail (they have been sent a link to this page) :

As the information supplied on the relevant page was instrumental in instigating my purchase of the said Miniature Sheet Album, I don't believe a compromise is acceptable when misinformation can be argued for more easily than a misunderstanding.  It is incumbent upon Royal Mail to ensure that the information at their site is accurate and leaves no room for allegations of misinformation.

ed

 

 

“Ready for take-off! Royal Mail has put on a stunning display of new stamps to mark the centenary of the first officially recorded, powered flight in the UK. Available Thursday 17 July 2008..." - royalmail (but you can order them now.)

A beautiful collection indeed.  I got them all!(except for the 'mint stamps' which are already included in the presentation pack.)  In case you're wondering, yes, they do international deliveries for just over a couple of 'quid'(pounds) - no matter how many stamps you order.  More than reasonable don't you think.  Feeling that you're getting the short-end of the stick isn't a daily experience here in the UK.

I'm not much of an aviation-freak, but I do like the significance of the event and the 'centenary' milestone - which my return here coincides with - and the designs and colour palette used as it tends to focus one's attention on the event instead of distracting one's attention from it.  I also like the way the viewer is brought into the scene in the foreground that sort of locates us amongst them as well - what i would term an 'inclusive design'.  Most importantly, the significance of each developmental milestone is focused on 'minimalistically' with the sky as a canvas.  Good one!  You can view the 'special stamps' page here.

Well, I do for one.  Stamps to me, is a little perforated fragment of history, that is not only a little piece of art in itself, but also provides insights into culture(ways of seeing things).  Pretty little unobtrusive things that serves as a subtle reminder that there is more to life than being an 'employee'.  I place these little reminders all around my home - gold records, toys, music instruments(have a drumset, a fender guitar, a keyboard, didgeridoo, violin, tabla, flute), art pieces, etc,....and stamps too.  Unlike the telly, and other forms of visually and aurally epileptic media that doesn't give one much time to think, these things allow you some semblance of control over what you view due to its largely sedentary nature ,and feeds on and enhances the reflective aspect of the human persona.

 
Well, i love the stamps here in the UK.  Here are some of my latest purchases I made online (yesterday).  And the best part about it is that they do international deliveries as well.  I thought of bringing it over to singapore to sell it, but knowing the singapore of today, generally, if it ain't 'singaporean'/chinese/lauded by the american media, then they're not going to go for it.  Never mind, allowing singapore to underdevelop my persona was something I never countenanced.

I remember back in the 80s, my very good friend - Yeo Hong Ho - and myself used to meet up on Saturdays evenings after we booked out of our camps (military).  He would pop by to my place on his motobike half and hour too early, and fuss over my coming down late when I come down on time.  Anyway, we would go downtown to 'see girls', chat, have dinner whilst watching a chinese movie in a cheap coffeeshop, and then check out stamps and other strange trinkets in nearby shops.  Two decades later, he still drops by to see me about once a month, and every now and then, he would bring down his stamp/coin collection, USSR badges, picture cards, and other trinkets, and we'll pore over it.  More aesthetically fruitful a pastime than PSP-ing all the time I think.  Well, I got him the set above.  Sure he'll like it when I give it to him when I get back next week (for a while).

If you want to check out other stamps in the UK, or buy them, you can go to -

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/home.

Some of those that I purchased....i especially like the 'cathedral' series :

ed