A Brief Survey of Postage Stamps by AIGA Medalists

Since 1920 the American Institute of Graphic Arts has been awarding its AIGA Medals 'to individuals who have set standards of excellence over a lifetime of work or have made individual contributions to innovation within the practice of design.' To date (or, when this was published), 155 designers have been awarded Medals; only a handful have designed government-issued postage stamps. This is their story.

Postage Stamps by AIGA Medalists contains seventy-six full-color illustrations, reproducing every known stamp designed by an AIGA Medalist (with the exception of Bradbury Thompson for whom only a handful of his 100+ stamps are shown). Also shown are related items by Bruce Rogers, Jan Tschichold, and Saul Steinberg. A brief essay by Michael Russem explains why these stamps are relevant to graphic designers and how they fit into the history of (mostly) American postage stamp design in the twentieth century.