About This Stamp
Bringing a contemporary vibe to the traditional red, white, and blue, $2 Patriotic Wave is one of two similarly designed high-denomination stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service® in 2015. The other stamp is denominated at the $1 price.
$2 Patriotic Wave features red and blue intersecting lines on a white background in an abstract pattern reminiscent of billowing flags. A portion on the lower right side of the stamp provides white space to display the numeral 2 in red. This unique design lends a patriotic appearance to packages, envelopes, and other mailings.
Designer Michael Dyer worked with art director Antonio Alcalá to create this stamp. $2 Patriotic Wave will be sold in sheets of 10 stamps.
Stamp Art Director
Antonio Alcalá
Antonio Alcalá served on the Postmaster General’s Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 2010 until 2011, when he left to become an art director for the U.S. Postal Service's stamp development program.
He is founder and co-owner of Studio A, a design practice working with museums and arts institutions. His clients include: the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Phillips Collection, and Smithsonian Institution. He also lectures at colleges including the Corcoran College of Art + Design, SVA, Pratt, and MICA.
In 2008, his work and contributions to the field of graphic design were recognized with his selection as an AIGA Fellow. He has judged international competitions for the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, AIGA, and Graphis. Alcalá also serves on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and Poster House Museum’s advisory councils. His designs are represented in the AIGA Design Archives, the National Postal Museum, and the Library of Congress Permanent Collection of Graphic Design.
Alcalá graduated from Yale University with a BA in history and from the Yale School of Art with an MFA in graphic design. He lives with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia.
Stamp Artist
Michael Dyer
Michael Dyer grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and received his bachelor of fine arts in graphic design from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in 2001. After graduation, he worked as a designer at several design studios in his hometown and New York, including Studio A, Spagnola & Associates, and Imagination. In 2004, Dyer founded his New York-based graphic design practice, Remake, where he focuses on brand identity systems and print work, although he admits to a soft spot for books and book design. His work has been featured in a variety of magazines, including WIRED, Grafik, and Communication Arts, as well as in design books.
A professor at the City College of New York, Dyer teaches classes in typography and graphic design concepts. He has also guest lectured at The Cooper Union, the Pratt Institute, and at his alma mater. Dyer is a contributing writer on the interactive design forum, Design Assembly.
A lover of opera as well as art and architecture, Dyer lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Sadie.
Dyer's first project for the U.S. Postal Service® — four Waves of Color high-denomination stamps (2012) — was followed in 2015 with his designs for $1 Patriotic Wave, $2 Patriotic Wave, and two Forever® stamps promoting World Stamp Show-NY 2016. At the 2016 international philatelic exhibition, the Postal Service™ reprised the 2015 stamp designs in an elegant folio presenting two panes of stamps printed in intaglio, a process that resembles classic engraving.