Today, we look back on Official People of Print Member, Neil Webb’s, proudest project to date. In 2016 Neil was commissioned by Jim Sutherland of Studio Sutherland to create a set of stamps for Royal Mail, each being based on a pivotal point of a different Agatha Christie novel. The project marked the centenary of the writing of Agatha Christie’s first detective novel; ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’.
In the spirit of crime fiction and detective work, each of the six stamps contains hidden secrets in the form of micro-text, UV ink and thermochromic ink. These clues can only be revealed by exposure to heat, light or magnifying glass – the ultimate detective gadget. For example, in the ‘A Murder is Announced’ stamp, a hidden clock is revealed under UV light, and clues to solve the murder mystery can be discovered after close inspection of some micro-text with a magnifying glass.
The project was very much a collaborative affair, as Neil explains; “We worked together to find conceptual visual twists that reflect the plot twists, clues and discoveries that define the crime novel.”
The stamps all reflect characteristics and imagery of the noir, in keeping with the time period of Christie. Neil also had to consider the scale of the imagery when working at stamp and postcard size, as well as summarising such complex plots in a single image frame.
For Neil, this project was an “example of a dream job and collaboration” and was thrilled that the stamps also went on to win a D&AD yellow pencil, a best in book prize in Creative Review Annual and a merit in 3×3 annual.
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