Unit Editions celebrates the graphic genius behind postage stamps

Franking my dear? I don’t give a damn, not when postage stamps look so good it’s like popping a lilliputian work of art on a letter.

Celebrating the superbly skilled graphic design that goes into creating these technically challenging sticky wonders is a new book from Unit Editions, The Archive Series #001 Graphic Stamps.

The tome draws together stamp designs from the collections of stamp design experts Iain Follett and Blair Thomson. “Collecting stamps for their graphic design qualities is the main reason I started to collect,” says Iain. “It didn’t come from a desire to find out more about postal history. It was to find the best in stamp design and to promote the designers behind them to the wider design audience.”

They’re not alone in their appreciation of stamps’ graphic design: Blair’s Instagram account Graphilately attracts philately fanatics in their thousands, and Blair says he’s noticed people becoming more vocal about the works. “‘I do feel that there is a growing resurgence of interest bought about in some part by Iain Follett and myself, and a few fellow collectors who have seen the value in the incredible designs available, and have used the advent of social media to showcase them to a global audience,” he says.