Postage Stamps
alternative energy sources & energy conservation

Resources

Website

Look at the Royal Mail website:www.royalmail.com and in the Specialist Areas list select Stamps and Collecting

Publications

Collect British Stamps, 2008 Edition, Stanley Gibbons, £9.95

Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue, 2008 Edition, Stanley Gibbons, £24.95 www.stanleygibbons.com

Digital template

The digital templates of the various stamp sizes provided are to assist you in your design work. They are shown at 400% but the actual sizes of the stamps are 27mm x 37mm portrait, 35mm x 35mm, 37mm x 35mm landscape, 30mm x 41mm landscape. As described in the Submission Details for this project, one of your presentation sheets should show your set of six 1st class stamps at actual size, and a second presentation board should show them at four times larger than actual size. The templates include a blank outline, an outline with the Queen's head and first class value, and an outline showing the two alternative positions that the Queen's head can take, together with the alternative positions that the first class value can take.

Stamp Publishing Criteria

Royal Mail's Special Stamp programme is currently developed with regard to a number of criteria. These include the following:

Commemoration of important anniversaries.
Commemoration of events of national importance, as well as major contemporary UK successes on the international stage.
Marking the contribution of the UK to world affairs in the broadest range of activities, from the arts and humanities to science and technology.
Exploration of the 'British way of life' celebrating the diversity of cultures and interests within the UK.
Contribution to the cultural life of the UK through the patronage of art and design, and thereby act as a showcase for the best of contemporary British creative talent. Members of the Royal family are the only identifiable living people who may be the 'hero image' on a stamp. Others may be portrayed as an integral part of the design solution if:
shown individually they are neither immediately identifiable nor a public figure
they are not associated with political or religious beliefs
they are the subsidiary figure, a minority part of the overall design or used as a symbol of a broader theme
they are part of a larger group involved in a single achievement
their achievement is the focus of the design rather than their image Anniversaries are restricted generally to 50 years or multiples of 50. Past and future years are considered to ensure a balance and variety of subjects taking one year with another. Within a year's programme the aim is to provide a variety of subjects.