About This Stamp
Put your sleuthing skills to the test with the Mystery Message Forever® stamp from the U.S. Postal Service.
Featuring bright colors and interesting shapes, the stamp design is a perplexing puzzle that will tie your brain in knots. This visual riddle spells out a difficult-to-discern message. Each colorful square contains a letter in an interesting pattern. The patterns, though seemingly random, were carefully placed so that when put all together, the message reads, “More Than Meets the Eye!”
Close one eye, turn your head to the right, whatever you have to do to solve this perplexing puzzle. Fun and festive, this stamp is sure to add a dash of whimsy to your correspondence and confound those who receive it.
Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp.
The Mystery Message stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
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.