Winter's silver lining is dawning on us once again, and brands are wasting no time getting in on the action, not least Royal Mail, who are arguably as vital a part of the UK Christmas season as lukewarm mulled wine and tangled lights. Every November since 1966, the 500 year-old postal service has released a set of bespoke Christmas stamps in order to celebrate the season. Last year's collection was pleasant but generic, featuring staple Christmas scenes such as families building snowmen and ice skating together (though we struggle to remember the last time anybody in the UK could actually do either of those things on Christmas Day). This year, however, the designs have quite literally taken Christmas back to its roots. David Hillman has designed this year’s set of Christmas stamps, which celebrate the classic story of the Nativity. Hillman worked with illustrator David Holmes on a set of six beautiful stamps, which depict scenes from the Magi and the birth of Christ. The designer was appointed 18-months ago after presenting two different ideas with two different illustrators.
Hillman himself selected the parts of the story to be depicted on the six stamps, before asking David Holmes to illustrate the scenes, which have been simplified with silhouette characters in order to make them more charming and approachable. Hillman said: “I’d initially looked at woodcuts and black and white but went for a colour concept based on different skies and silhouette characters. We wanted to avoid old masters and classic representations.” Christmas stamps are the smallest produced by the Royal Mail, which presents a unique challenge according to Hillman, who wanted to steer clear of huge, intimidating landscapes. Another option was a still life scene of the gold, frankincense and myrrh, but Hillman wanted the sky scenes to be consistent. He said: “David and I are both ex-art directors so we both has an understanding that it needed to be as simple as possible.” Andrew Hammond from the Royal Mail, meanwhile, added: “Christmas is a stamp issue we particularly look forward to. The charming style of these designs sets the perfect tone for the festive season.”
David Hillman has designed this year’s set of Christmas stamps, which celebrate the classic story of the Nativity
In related news, Royal Mail CEO Moya Greene said yesterday that the company plan on using drones and driverless trucks to deliver mail in the near future. Of course, US tech giants such as Amazon and Google have already begun experimenting with the technology, but the thought of a UK company following suit on such a large scale is really rather exciting. Greene believes that the service, if it does materialise, will primarily exist to help those in more remote locations. She said: “I don’t think it is going to be to every single address, I think it is going to work in more remote places where you don’t have to deliver too much. I’d love to see things like that.”
The company was also in the news this week thanks to an incident involving a pissed-off pooch and a postwoman in a small village in Wales, where residents have now reportedly been told not to expect any mail delivered to their homes in the run up to Christmas. Families living on and around Zoar Road in Ystalyfera (in the Swansea Valley) are being forced to travel five miles away to pick up their post at a nearby town's sorting office after the Royal Mail suspended all deliveries following an attack on a Royal Mail worker by a large mastiff. Residents received one final bit of post to their homes last Monday sent by the Royal Mail to explain their decision. It read: “You may already be aware on November 2, a Royal Mail post person was attacked by a dog while delivering near your property. As a result, a health and safety risk assessment was undertaken and confirmed that the level of risk associated with delivering to your property was unacceptably high due to the threat of further dog attacks. Royal Mail will carry out its own further investigation into the circumstances and we will continue to work with the dog owner and local police to ensure the dog is restrained.” Residents are understandably not amused!
Royal mail CEO Moya Greene said yesterday that the company plan on using drones and driverless trucks to deliver mail in the near future
For those who generally leave it until the last minute to get their Christmas postage sorted, recommended last post dates this year are the 19th of December for second-class mail, the 21st for first-class mail and the 23rd for special delivery. There will be no deliveries from Christmas Day until the 29th of December as Monday the 28th is a bank holiday.
