I Timbri di Alice! Alice's Stamps!
The Alice stamp set has finally been released and I am excited to be able to talk a little bit about it.
As many are aware, I have been working with Bernasconi F.lli s.a.s. – with Stefano and Umberto –, the stamp makers here in Milan, for a number of years now. We work together and come up with new images every season, and although it’s not my main line of work, I really enjoy the opportunity to create fun and simple images that can then inspire other people’s creations.
In fact, it was on one occasion when Annalisa, one of the many talented people at Impronte d’Autore (the stamp makers store), had shown me what she enjoyed creating with my images. It was a very sweet book that told a story put together with the images from one of the lines I designed. She really had fun making these little books out of the stamp images and I began to realize how interesting it would be to create a storybook line where we can use these well-known characters to create a book, greeting card, or accompany photos to help tell a person’s story. Thus, the storybook series was born.
Alice is the first of 3 (so far) storybook inspired lines. It was an easy choice with such a variety of characters to choose from. But even with the wealth of inspiration, the selection had to be narrowed down to satisfy many different uses. Focusing on certain ones that dealt with “tea” or "a party" always have more value than say … the dodo … or the walrus and the carpenter … even though it would’ve been great to do a version of those characters.
As for the development, well in this case, there actually isn’t much to show. When I shuffled through my files, I found a great deal lacking in sketches. Which means, the ideas must have come a little easier to me. That’s no surprise as the Alice stories have always been near and dear to me.
I did find a few things though:
These are the first drafts. They actually look very much like the final … so, they didn’t really have to go through any development.
The queen was a little tricky in that I thought I wanted to present her differently … and I think I was trying to develop a different style. But in the end, simplicity is key in stamp design, so I went back to the more traditional approach.
I even tried different inking styles.
But that wasn’t picked as a possible choice. Well, you gotta try, right? For the final set, the inking was beautifully done by Michela Frare.
In the end, it became a very fun set. This time, complete in clear stamp form and dies to go with it!
I am very excited to see what people do with those images. I have already seen some samples that they are working on at Impronte d’Autore, and as usual, they are charming.
Just in time for Craft & Hobby Show Fair season here in Italy!