Olympic Athletes and Landmarks Merge on New British Stamps

To kick off the summer Olympics in London yesterday, Royal Mail released four new stamps that pay tribute not only to the athletes but to some of London's most recognizable landmarks.

According to Fast Company's Co.Design website, "The four first-class stamps visually blend dynamic shots of athletes (a diver, fencer, runners, and a cyclist) with formal images of architectural monuments. The front wheel of the bicycle, for instance, becomes the London Eye Ferris wheel, and the circular path of a track flows seamlessly into the curves of the Populous-designed Olympic stadium."

Reporter Belinda Lanks says designing and photographing the athletes  (all of whom are members of the British team and due to compete) and the landmarks proved challenging.

Gareth Howat of Hat-Trick, the London-based studio that designed the stamps, is quoted as saying, "“One of the trickiest was the fencing and Tower Bridge stamp. We had to shoot the athletes first, and we had to make sure that we listened carefully to their advice about making sure the technical side of the sport was represented correctly--the right angle of attack for the lunge was shot over and over to make sure we had the right angle and exact form of the fencer and her arm. Once we had got that, it was a case of briefing the architectural photographer to shoot Tower Bridge from the correct angle so they ‘joined.’

To read the entire article, click here.