Gizmodo: stamps

Beautiful U.K. Stamp Series Features Britain's Most Iconic Industrial Designs

John Mahoney — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:40:00 EST

So the English get to lick and stick ten beautiful icons of modern design, and we get Elvis? I see how it is.

Everything featured is great—from the Concorde and Supermarine Spitfire from the aviation world, to the miniskirt from fashion and the Penguin book jacket from, well, English bookishness. I love these. More at: [Dezeen via BBG]

Keyboard Made With Hundreds of Postage Stamps

Sean Fallon — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:45:17 EST

Stamp collecting or "philately" (as nerds in the know insist on calling it) has never really been all that interesting to me. In fact, I always considered it to be extremely boring. But one look at this beautiful stamp keyboard has changed my mind. There are actually 10 of these keyboards in existence, with each one featuring the stamps of a single nation—often focusing on a royal coronation or a particular sport. Unfortunately, most of these keyboards have been given to the designer's friends and family as gifts. So if you want to get your hands on one, you had best find out who "Andy" is and start kissing his butt. An additional picture is available after the break.

[Steampunk Workshop via Make]

Coffee Cup Stamp Mug

Jason Chen — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 20:00:17 EDT

Do your kids and annoying house-guests just refuse to use a coaster? Give them one of these stamp mugs with an interesting floral patter on the base. These mugs come in two different designs that interlock in a few places so you can go nuts, stamping away at your gorgeous coffee table.

These mugs look pretty decent, even if they do cost a bit of coin at $59 for 2 mugs. Nobody said making lemons into lemonade was cheap. – Jason Chen

Stamp Mugs [Generate via Cooking Gadgets]

Netherlands Debuts Video Stamp

Charlie White — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 10:56:31 EST

The Netherlands has issued a lenticular video stamp, using a special printing process on a stamp-sized piece of plastic. Each stamp sells for .39 (46 cents US), and before you think that's crazy, keep in mind that these are not flat panel displays that we're talking about. How does this work, you might ask? The technique is a variation on those little plastic decoder rings you might have seen as a kid—as you tilt the stamp to the left and right, the series of images appear to play back in sequence. Here's how Outer Aspect, the company that printed these video stamps, explains it:

Lenticular is a specialised printing process that can show depth, motion, HD video, film or combinations of these. The lenticular material is made up of tiny ridges or lenses (hence the name "lenticular" printing). We take raw images and process them through a computer algorithm, which matches the lens surface of the lenticular material. When the two work together it enables the image to be replayed back to you. The printing is always on the reverse side of the Lenticular lens material, as this is where the focal point is, allowing the images to be replayed back to the human eye as the viewing angle changes.

This technology can also be used for 3D graphics and lots of other jaw-dropping stuff.

How It Works [Outer Aspect, via PicturePhoning]