About This Stamp
In 2016, the U.S. Postal Service® celebrated pickup trucks, the rugged and reliable work vehicles that Americans have driven for nearly a century. Each of the four stamps features one of the following iconic models: the 1938 International Harvester D-2, the 1948 Ford F-1, the 1953 Chevrolet, and the 1965 Ford F-100.
Artist Chris Lyons used Adobe Illustrator to create stylized renderings of the pickup trucks. On each stamp, the name and model year of the truck are featured in the top left corner over the words “FOREVER USA.” Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps.
Pickup Trucks was issued as a First-Class Mail® Forever® booklet of 20 stamps. These Forever stamps will always be equal in value 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.
Stamp Artist
Chris Lyons
Growing up with parents who were artists, Chris Lyons was always surrounded by art, music, and “creative magic.” His artistic childhood inspired him to study communication design and illustration at the University of Buffalo, where he graduated with a B.F.A. in 1981.
Lyons gained his first professional experience as an intern for famed graphic designer Milton Glaser in New York City. From there he launched a career in freelance design and illustration, working with clients such as The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, AirTran, General Electric, Scholastic, and The New York Times. He describes his artistic style as “idealized and optimistic, with a slightly painterly feel to it.”
Lyons loves teaching and is an adjunct professor in the Schools of Design and Industrial Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. “It is one of my favorite pursuits and a hugely satisfying and rewarding piece of my life,” he says. In his spare time, Lyons plays pick-up basketball, which fuels his competitive spirit. His children have modeled for and inspired some of his best illustrations. Lyons lives in Pittsford, NY.
Pickup Trucks (2016) is Lyons’s first project with the U.S. Postal Service®.