The objective for this project was to design an interlocking set of four stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. The stamps had to all connect to form one big scene or image, but each quadrant also had to function as its own composition.
I pursued a sports theme for my thumbnails. I tested out a bunch of different combinations of characters within a few formats; one of my ideas was drawing athletes from different sports with an American-flag styled layout and pattern. Another was a similar setup but with outlines of each sport’s court or field drawn behind each athlete and connecting across the grid. My third main idea was a baseball field setup with a play happening over the rectangles to form one big scene.
The baseball composition worked the best as a whole, and was very dynamic. So, I ended up developing that one for my final composition. I experimented with colors for each team and character, as well as patterns and strokes to incorporate on the field in the background.
I wanted to still work with a bit of the Americana feel, so I made the fielding team’s uniform red with gold details, and the hitting team’s blue with silver details. I took some time to make sure the details on the field looked realistic enough but also stylized; I tested out a different brush for the shading on the dirt and grass, and patterned the grass to match mowing lines.
