Hasta La Ideas

by Laura Neilson

On 13 January 2009, Britain’s Royal Mail service issued a new series of ten stamps celebrating 100 years of quintessentially British design. We love smartly-designed British creations as much as the next Anglophile, but the Royal Mail’s latest release has made philatelists out of all of us.

Not surprisingly, the Mini and the classic cherry-red K2 telephone booth are part of the collection, which also includes AAM Durrant’s Routemaster double-decker bus (now a rare sight on London’s streets), Mary Quant’s bold mini skirt and the less-obvious Anglepoise lamp, created by British motor car designer George Carwardine.

With their crisp, simply-photographed images and white backgrounds, the stamps are as appealing and timeless as the designs they’re honoring. If you’re stateside and feeling envious, the Charles and Ray Eames commemorative stamps are a good runner-up.

Available online as stamps, in addition to cards and postcard prints.