May/07
Discovering New Creative Territory

Maybe it’s fate that we ended up creating a stamp for Canada Post. Or maybe it’s just a quirky coincidence. But 156 years after Sir Sandford Fleming designed the very first Canadian postage stamp (the Three Penny Beaver), Fleming Design adds ‘stamp designer’ to its portfolio.

While we can’t claim any relation to Sir Sandford Fleming, we’re glad to be carrying on the esteemed tradition of Canadian stamp design and particularly honoured to create a stamp commemorating the 250th anniversary of Captain Vancouver’s birth and celebrating his accomplishments. We were excited by the design challenge and the whole studio got involved through an internal competition that generated many imaginative design ideas.

Captain George Vancouver was one of the last great seafaring explorers of the eighteenth century. As a novice seaman he accompanied Captain Cook on his voyages exploring the Antarctic region and searching for a northwest passage, accruing rigorous training in navigation and surveying.

As Captain of his own ship, the Discovery, Vancouver made his mark on Canada’s history. He returned to the Pacific Northwest, overseeing the return of British territory from the Spanish, mapping the northwest coastline, and exploring the tip of Vancouver Island to the end of the Alaska panhandle. He bestowed nearly 400 place names still used today, including the largest island on the west coast of North America and Canada’s largest west coast city, both of which bear his name.

To be released June 22, 2007, the international rate stamp was designed by Niko Potton of Fleming Design and features a solitary image of Vancouver, standing aboard ship, gazing out to a distinctly northwest landscape. “The importance of Vancouver’s achievements, which went largely unnoticed until after his death, have significant bearing in today’s world,” explains Potton. “I wanted to create a design that focused on the man himself and captured the solitary and isolated position in which he found himself, geographically and personally.”

A reproduction of Vancouver’s authenticated signature runs vertically down the right side of the stamp. Embossing on the figure of Captain Vancouver adds depth to the image, enhancing the scene’s sense of perspective. The stamp is also a Canada Post first. Danielle Trottier, manager of Stamp Design and Production at Canada Post, says “this is a unique design for Canada Post as it’s the first time that we’ve not shown the face of a person commemorated on a stamp.”

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