US Stamps

Designers dish on their digital color postmarks

Feb 5, 2015, 9 AM

A United States Postal Service promotional image for the Cut Paper Heart Love forever stamp first-day cover with digital color postmark. The stamp was issued Jan. 21, 2014.

Did you ever wonder who comes up with the designs that the United States Postal Service uses for its digital color postmarks?

In a new Design Studio posting, the USPS gets the lowdown from four postmark designers, explaining what goes into creating an attractive and colorful cancel.

The postmarks discussed are all from 2014, commemorating the 70¢ C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson stamp (Scott 4879), the Cut Paper Heart Love forever stamp (4847), the Janis Joplin forever stamp (4916) and the Circus Posters forever stamps (4898-4905).