Imprinted Upon Us
August 5, 2010 | No Comments
It’s no secret that we’re quite fond of stamps here at Bluezoom. Especially old ones. They’ve been inspiration and fodder for a danged good number of entries in the Bluezoom visual vocabulary; you need to look no further than the background image of this blog for a choice cut of some free-range, stamp-fed BZ design.
What is it about the OGs of thumbnail images that get us where it counts? Well, it is a lot of things. The intimacy of scale, the intricacy, the style and clarity with which detail is conveyed with a single color. There’s the “character of permanence” (great term, Mr. Woods) of the older engraved stamps that’s straight-up sumptuous. You just don’t get that quality with the ways stamps are printed today. Tiny paper jewels, they are.
Beyond the sensorial, we love what they stand for: communication, authentication, commemoration; the spanning of time and distance. Tiny art that carries an idea or sentiment from one person to another, from one place to another in the real, physical, analog world.
We’re very fortunate to have a beautiful collection of well-kept stamps on hand here at Bluezoom (a second thanks goes out to Mr. Woods). Here’s a short clip that takes a good look at a few of our favorites in the “Old Europe” category. We hope you enjoy it, and perhaps are inspired to start rooting around for some little printed gems of your own.
Impressed,
- BZ