Space Exploration Stamp Series

An Post commissioned us to design a series of stamps on the theme of Space Exploration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 moon landing and also to celebrate astronauts with Irish ancestry. The challenge was to communicate multiple messages holistically in a relatively small space. We used a blend of colour and pattern to unify the series and depicted the space crafts directly associated with each astronaut as a way of personalising each stamp, which tells more of a story over a simple portraiture approach; Armstrong piloted lunar lander while Collins orbited in the capsule in 1969. Where the 90s saw Eileen Collins and Cady Coleman in Space Shuttles Discovery and Columbia respectively — Collins having the distinction of being the Shuttle’s first female pilot and Cady also served on the International Space Station which features on her stamp. Alongside the 4 stamps, we designed the first day cover, miniature sheets and cancellation stamp.