Evolution of the Alphabet Stamp Designs


Special stamp created for debut of slideshow - used on invitation

The artist images that appear at the top of the philatelic alphabet pages of this site premiered as slides, then evolved into actual stamps, in the Dickson's self-promotion book and in the AIGA/SF address book. During the project's lifetime, some of the images have changed completely, while others have remained essentially unchanged. Some changed because we changed topics (O started as Overfrank, then was changed to Overprint). Others changed for technical, artistic, or personal reasons (several of the original artists were unable to commit their time to the revisions necessary for the publications). Below are three versions of each letter image - the initial one, as it premiered in the first slide show, the intermediate one, just prior to the Dickson's book, and the official image adopted for the Dickson's book and in use since. I am publishing them here just because I find it interesting to see how some of the designs evolved to meet the requirements of publication as actual stamps as opposed to slides.

Click on any image to view a higher-resolution version.

A is for Advertising cover


A-version 1

A-version 2

A-version 3

B is for Bisect


B-version 1

B-version 2

B-version 3

C is for Cinderella


C-version 1

C-version 2

C-version 3

D is for Duck stamps


D-version 1

D-version 2

D-version 3

E is for EFO's


E-version 1

E-version 2

E-version 3

F is for Firsts


F-version 1

F-version 2

F-version 3

G is for G stamp


G-version 1

G-version 2

G-version 3

H is for Handstamp


H-version 1

H-version 2

H-version 3

I is for Invert Error


I-version 1

I-version 2

I-version 3

J is for Joint issue


J-version 1

J-version 2

J-version 3

K is for Kansas City Roulettes


K-version 1

K-version 2

K-version 3

L is for Local stamps


L-version 1

L-version 2

L-version 3

M is for Mulready envelopes


M-version 1

M-version 2

M-version 3

N is for Numerals


N-version 1

N-version 2

N-version 3

O is for Overfrank/Overprint


O-version 0

O-version 1

O-version 2

O-version 3

P is for Persian Rug


P-version 1

P-version 2

P-version 3

Q is for Quality


Q-version 1

Q-version 2

Q-version 3

R is for RPO


R-version 1

R-version 2

R-version 3

S is for Setenant


S-version 1

S-version 2

S-version 3

T is for Topicals


T-version 1

T-version 2

T-version 3

U is for UPU


U-version 1

U-version 2

U-version 3

V is for V-mail


V-version 1

V-version 2

V-version 3

W is for War


W-version 1

W-version 2

W-version 3

X is for X cancel


X-version 1

X-version 2

X-version 3

Y is for Yvert et Tellier


Y-version 1

Y-version 2

Y-version 3

Z is for Zeppelin Post


Z-version 1

Z-version 2

Z-version 3


Table of Contents


All Letter Images Copyright © 1997, 2000, SF chapter of AIGA
All text Copyright © 2000, William M. Senkus

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Revised -- 2/27/2004