Creating a stamp is an interesting project because there is only so much space on a stamp to convey a message. Technically, a stamp can have as many details on it as any other artwork, but since it will be printed so small, it still has to be legible.
I decided to do stamps on the black lives matter movement. I originally wanted to do them on the 5 senses, but I was pulled strongly to the BLM movement due to worldly events. I also wanted to use QR codes to be able to give more information on the movement without cluttering the stamp with text. Each code takes the viewer somewhere to educate them on the movement. One QR code sends an email to the mayor of Louisville demanding justice for Breonna Taylor. I feel like the QR codes gave me more flexibility to give as much text as I wanted on the small surface of a stamp.
To incorporate the senses, I used braille. Disabled people are normally left out of the conversation when it comes to stamps. The braille on the stamp would be printed and raised. The braille letters spell out BLM. I wanted to invite the movement to people with visual disabilities so the stamps could cross a larger audience.
I also wanted to talk about the intersection of being a woman and being black. I researched about QR codes and was able to use Indesign to design them. QR codes can be different colors and can still be read as long as there is high contrast. There are so many different ways for QR codes to be manipulated and I learned that I could turn the code into circles and it would still be readable.
I used black and white in my work to show the high contrast between white and black people. Kara Walker was an inspiration for me because most of her work is in black and white and reveals the monstrosities of slavery in a seemingly playful art style. I wanted my work to be extremely sharp and clean so the focus would be the messages leaving no ambiguity. I also used Gestalt principles to create illusions and utilize different techniques to convey my ideas.
Overall, I really enjoyed making this project. If you refer to my process log you can see that I spent an incredible amount of time on it so I hope as a fellow artist you can appreciate it.
Link to Video
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bNNlHxDBi6neZ6zxbG3ejHcPFFoaf2cB/view?usp=sharing
