About This Stamp
With this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service® recognizes the men and women — including firefighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency medical service professionals — who respond to critical situations with skill, dedication, and uncommon bravery.
The digital illustration on this stamp is a symbolic scene that shows three first responders in profile, facing right, as they race into action. From left to right, the first figure is a red firefighter carrying an axe. The second figure is a grayish-white EMS worker, with the EMS Star of Life visible on her cap, upper arm, and emergency bag. The third figure is a blue law-enforcement officer shining a flashlight toward unknown danger ahead. The dark background and signs of smoke in around the figures suggest the wide range of situations that demand the immediate attention of a first responder.
Fires, medical emergencies, accidents, and violent crimes require us to look to those who possess the training and knowledge to treat the injured, rescue the endangered, and restore safety and order. For many, responding to emergencies is their full-time occupation, while others are highly trained volunteers. First responders are found throughout society, from small townships to the federal government, and their ranks often include a wide range of law enforcement professionals and public safety personnel, from air marshals and transit police to park rangers and fish and game wardens.
Artist Brian Stauffer worked with art director and designer Antonio Alcalá and designer Ricky Altizer to create this stamp.
Stamp Art Director, Designer, and Typographer
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 Designer
Ricky Altizer
Ricky Altizer is a graphic designer whose experience includes print, digital, and motion projects from concept to production. He has worked at Studio A in Alexandria, Virginia, since 2016, involved in the design of books, museum exhibits, and U.S. postage stamps.
Altizer completed work for a BFA in Graphic Design from George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design in May 2017. Previously, he had worked in technology start-ups in education and music in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York.
Open to new experiences and thriving on collaborative efforts, Altizer is partial to projects that create better experiences for people. After hours, he enjoys concerts, museums, and spending time with his community in Washington, D.C., and surrounds.
Altizer's projects for the U.S. Postal Service include Honoring First Responders (2018) and Earth Day (2020).
Stamp Artist
Brian Stauffer
Born and raised in Arizona, Brian Stauffer graduated from the University of Arizona in 1989 with a B.F.A. in graphic design.
Through a unique combination of hand-drawn sketches, painted elements, and scanned found objects, Stauffer's work bridges both the traditional and digital realms. His illustrations are best known for their conceptual take on social issues.
Stauffer has been a contributing artist to the New York Times, TIME Magazine, The New Yorker, The Nation, Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, and more than 300 other publications worldwide.
His images are in the permanent collections of The Wolfsonian, the Society Of Illustrators Museum of Illustration in New York, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Newseum in Washington D.C., and the Art Directors Club of New York.
Chosen as the cover artist for the 2014–2015 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide, Stauffer has received numerous awards including the 2015 Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators 57 competition; the 2011 Gold Award for Best Cover Illustration from the Society of Publication Designers; the 2010 Editorial Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators 52 competition; and three Gold awards from Graphis.
Stauffer lives and works in Novato, California. Honoring First Responders (2018) is his first project for the U.S. Postal Service®.