The brief called for a series of stamps that followed the USPS USA Forever
Stamp submission guidelines.
The United States Forever Stamp is a non-expiring stamp sold
by the United States Postal Service (more commonly known as the USPS,
federally managed) that can be used to mail a one ounce First-Class
letter.
With my Forever USA Stamps, I aimed to challenge what would likely be
considered by the USPS to be a “negative” contribution to American
society, to reframe the discussion, and represent the American people and
their passion for justice within the advocacy for the Palestinian people
as a positive contribution to our American society.
What is more patriotic than wishing
for your country to be better?
De Nichols, author “Art of Protest: Creating, Discovering, and
Activating Art for Your Revolution,” writes in her book, "At marches,
where it can be hard for target audiences to hear each individual’s
voice, signage allows each person’s message to be seen, and the
results are often full of creativity and passion.” "
Many of the bold, often varied typefaces present within Dadaist works
are also present within protest advocacy posters. Boasting similarly
thick fonts, often drawn out onto posters and cardboard, protest signs
aim to draw attention to an individual message, especially from afar.
I aimed to utilize this collage to locate trends in protest messaging,
and continue these trends into the forever stamps designed. I utilized
4 main phrases stemming from this collage—the first two intending to
spread a more general message about freedom for Palestine, and the
second two specifically calling for action against Israel— to help
capture a larger perspective upon the issue and highlight the varying
font choices for specific common phrases utilized within protest
signage. These stamps do not need to be seen in pairs, but can be
paired up to reinforce their overall message.
1. “From the River to the Sea…”
2. “… Palestine will be Free!” and
1. “Bombing Kids is Not Self Defense”
2. “End Israeli Military Occupation”
I created a custom block type font for the words of “Palestine” and “Free”
within the larger statement of “Palestine will be Free!” in order to study
how the type was built, to imagine how a protestor might create these
signs with the intention in mind of “these must be seen from far away:”
similar to the impact I wish for my stamps to make when viewed from afar.
I found longer blocky types to be very prevalent within protest design,
both within this era of social movements, and prior ones. Tré Seals, owner
of
VocalType, creates fonts inspired by social movements throughout history. I
sampled their font “Martin” inspired by type utilized during the time of
Martin Luther King Jr. and his advocacy for civil rights.
I chose to use a very limited color palette —the 4 colors of the
Palestinian flag— which is similar to how one would make a protest sign in
support of the cause. Overall, I was glad to be able to portray two
perspectives on protest signage: though both intend to communicate
important messages, one can be seen as more “joyful” in nature , and the
other, more aggressive in it’s delivery and messaging.
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