About This Stamp
With these elegant stamps reminiscent of classic engraved 19th-century stamps and banknotes, the U.S. Postal Service® heralds the coming World Stamp Show-NY 2016 and invites philatelists and amateur stamp enthusiasts alike to attend. From May 28 to June 4, 2016, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, more than 250,000 visitors are expected to enjoy eight days of amazing philatelic events and displays.
The design of the twenty self-adhesive stamps features intricate patterns of lines and ornamentation inspired by the U.S. Newspaper and Periodical stamps of 1865. A touch of patriotic color—ten stamps are blue and ten are red—emphasizes the location of this international exhibition: the United States. The circle in the center of the stamp design displays a five-pointed star. Text surrounding the circle reads “2016 World Stamp Show” and “New York City." The header on the pane reads: “JOIN US FOR A WONDERFUL WEEK AT WORLD STAMP SHOW-NY 2016.” Verso text provides details about the show.
World Stamp Show-NY 2016 continues a 100-year tradition of once-a-decade international philatelic exhibitions held in the United States. The 300,000-square-foot bourse, the philatelic word for marketplace, will be jam-packed with more than 200 dealers selling and buying stamps and other philatelic products. The U.S. Postal Service and some 50 international postal bureaus will be selling their latest stamps.
Exhibitions of enthralling stamp rarities on loan to the show will share space with competitive exhibits vying for medals and prizes. First Day of Issue events will take place daily.
Antonio Alcalá served as art director and Michael Dyer was both designer and typographer for the stamp sheet.
The World Stamp Show-NY 2016 stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce rate.
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 Designer
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.