Alumnus designs USPS’s first neon stamp

Keep a close eye on your mail this year. Chances are, you’ll see the USPS’s first neon stamp, “Neon Celebrate!,” designed by CCAD alumnus Michael Flechtner (CCAD 1981).

Flechtner was hired to design the stamp after USPS Art Director Phil Jordan decided to use neon to depict the “Celebrate” theme. “Most neon is huge and stamps are so small,” said Jordan in an article on BeyondThePerf.com. “The mechanics would be a monumental challenge. Not everyone thought we could pull it off.”

A Fine Arts graduate, Flechtner was chosen for the project because of his experience with glass-blending for a neon sign shop. He worked there while completing his MFA in sculpture. According to the article, this background enabled him to create neon tubing that depicted three-dimensional objects instead of the two dimensional forms typically found in signage and other graphic neon displays.

"Neon Celebrate!" designed by Michael Flechtner is slated for sale March 25.

“Neon Celebrate!” is being issued on March 25, 2011 as a Forever® stamp. Forever® stamps are always equal in value to the current first-class mail one-ounce rate.

Find out how Flechtner created the design at BeyondThePerf. Learn more about Flechtner on his website.