Illustrator Jay Cover made a series of illustrations to be used on postage stamps for the Isle of Man Post Office to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Ox.
In total they were designed 4 postal stamps with triangular format, will be issued by British portal offices. According to the creator of the series of illustrations, what he wanted to convey with his work is the global perspective of his island, its openness and the desire to embrace other cultures.
Each stamp is worth £ 1.58. One of them has an illustration of the head of an ox in profile next to a rat, these symbols refer to the order of animals in the Chinese zodiac.
The illustrator and designers of the completed stamps sent them to a Hong Kong postal administration. To verify that all the elements used made adequate, proper and exact references to Chinese traditions.
One of the most important challenges in this project was fit all the elements in such a small canvas.
Table of Contents
Postage stamps to celebrate the Chinese year
The stamps, in addition to having illustrations related to the Chinese New Year, must also include the following elements: the cost of the stamp, place of origin and head of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
You can buy the postage stamp set for £ 7.86 from the Isle of Man postal service website. The postage is likely to be more expensive than the value of the stamps. But if you read this article from the Isle of Man, shipping is free.
I liked all the stamps, I think a very sober and elegant job. The illustrations of the animals are very good, the same with the choice of the color palette, which was used on each stamp.
I think that for fans of philately these stamps are perfect to add to your collection.
I wish there was a version of the postage stamps in a large formatA ledger size print would be perfect. I would love to have one of these stamps framed, to put on my office wall.
Facts I Learned From This Postage Stamp Design
Thanks to this project I discovered that there is an island called The Isle of Man, according to wikipedia: it is an autonomous dependence of the British Crown in the Irish Sea, between England and Ireland. It is known for its rugged coastline and for its medieval castles.
In addition, I spent almost half an hour looking at YouTube videos of the castles found in The Isle of Man. The history of that place is very impressive, for being so little known and being of such a small size. Many people passed through that island from Celts to Vikings.
It is impressive all that can be learned and discovered, thanks to a design of a few simple postage stamps.