From small, finely detailed postage stamps to eye-popping billboard posters, the art and design of Sergio Baradat knows no limits. Recently appointed to the post of Art Director at the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA), Sergio took time last spring to design the online advertising and identity for AI-AP’s first Latin America Fotographía and Illustración competitions, for which the deadline has been extended to Monday, July 30th. I caught up with him last week for this Q&A.

Peggy Roalf: When did you first become interested in designing postage stamps?

Sergio Baradat: I have been fascinated by postage stamps since I was a boy and collected them. I love the genre; at their best they are microcosms of art and ideas as well as thumbprints of the shared identity from their country of origin. For me growing up they were magic passports that helped me escape and to also develop my imagination. Little did I know that many years down the line I would receive a call from Ethel Kessler in Washington who gave me the opportunity to work on my first postage stamp for the USPS; I will always remember that moment. 

PR: When you’re creating the art for a series of stamps, what scale do you work at in order to maintain the fine details that are so much a part of philatelic stamps?

SB: I start with pencil sketches at about 500% of the stamp size, so I’d say anywhere from letter size paper to 9 by 12 inches Once I start working digitally I keep the art rather large so it remain crisp and to achieve certain details, such as such as the fish and people in the International Year of Forest series (above), or the textures of the fruit in the Tropical Fruit series(below). I have to remind myself that the art has to read at a fraction of the finished art size, so if I get carried away with some subtlety, I reign myself back in if the message becomes lost or un-readable.

PR: Most of the stamps you have created are serial images. When you submit your ideas to the client, how much back and forth ensues before you create the final art?

SB: I have been very fortunate that there has been very little to no back and forth with these projects. My sketches are pretty tight, which leaves the client with little doubt as to what direction I will be taking. I also have had the good fortune to work with great art directors who hire an artist and respect their choices and vision.

PR: Where do ideas for commemorative stamps originate? For example, your Tropical Fruit stamps are gorgeous—mouth-watering, actually—but you have to admit, this is a pretty unusual subject for the U.S. Postal Service!

SB: I'm usually given a theme or title as a point of departure, for example at the USPS and at the UNPA the themes are chosen by stamp advisory committee that meets at various times of the year and chooses what themes are to be developed for the calendar year. For the International Year of Forest stamps for the United Nations I was given the title. I then wrote the narrative, which I used as a wireframe to flesh out the series. In other words, I wrote the story and then illustrated it.

PR: For your International Year of Forest stamps, there are so many iterations of the three different designs, from single stamps to first day covers, and various sets. Can you describe intricacies of the design process for this group of stamps?

SB: First, let me just say that one of the coolest things after the stamps were finished was to design the envelopes (cachets), poster and most of all the cancels. I had always wanted to design one and these were my first. For the lay person, a First Day of Issue (FDOI) cancel marks the date, place and theme of a particular stamp edition. This mark is used to cancel the stamps only on this specific day. The UN stamps are issued in three currencies: Euros, Dollars and Swiss Francs, in three different languages: German, English and French, hence the many different covers. Collectors play an integral part in the process as well, because part of the series is created with them in mind. Stamp collectors are a rare breed indeed. FDOI’s are very coveted among collectors so the US and UN post give them as many permutations of an individual theme as possible.

PR: It’s no surprise that the advertising banner for Go Sur! (especially the smaller version) resembles a postage stamp! Who is the illustrator for this design? What music were you playing as you worked on this project?
SB: Funny, now that you mention it, it does seem like a stamp! The illustrator is Cristian Turdera. I think his work is clear, nostalgic, very sophisticated, and lent itself to being legible on a small scale. I’m always listening to music when I work, or NPR radio. I was probably listening to Classic 70’s European Disco, a dreamy lounge-trip hop beat, or something on SoundCloud. I have close friends who are audiophiles, so I’m always getting an email with a link to a mix of some sort or other.
PR: To enter AI-AP’s Latin America Fotographía and Illustración competitions please visit the website. The deadline has been extended to Monday, July 30th.

Editor’s note: Sergio's International Year of Forest stamps have been selected for the upcoming AI-31. 
Also, if any DART readers have attended the annual AI-AP launch party at the Angel Orensanz Foundation and have noticed the sound track, which gradually amps up over the evening’s festivities, that too is the work of Sergio Baradat.