FEB to Lynne --- Mike Tallman

 

I found this style of lettering on Pinterest and I'm going to start a folder called *Probably Not* as in - I probably won't try it again. I'm drawn to letters where they all start as a square or rectangle and then something is carved away to make the shape into a letter. I wish I had time to flip through my 6.000 posts to see if any of them have ever been really good - worth doing again.

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My older son has a friend from high school, Mike Tallman, who studied graphic design. He is also a musician. Over the years, he has cultivated a very nice business in designing album covers as well as silk screen prints to commemorate concerts and music festivals. I had an idea for a poster and emailed him.

We emailed back and forth - and then it dawned on me that he would be a perfect designer for the USPS because they often feature musicians on stamps. I looked into the requirements to be a designer and found this:

LINK to info about stamp designing. Basically - you send them a portfolio (hard copies) and if they like your stuff, they'll keep it on file. They pay a flat rate for designs but did not specify what that rate was. I Googled and found this info - which may or may not be true:

Artists commissioned to design a USPS postage stamp typically receive a total of $3,000, which includes an initial payment of $1,000 upon signing the agreement and an additional $2,000 upon approval of the final artwork. The original artwork then becomes the property of the Postal Museum.

Mike designed this poster for a gig here in Des Moines - when his band was in town. I love it - obviously.

LINK to Mike's website