Tim Garman's got the opposition licked when it comes to designing stamps, with the Wanganui graphic artist securing his third contract to create a collectors' edition of stamps for NZ Post.
Mr Garman has designed five individual stamps, the first-day cover and a special presentation pack for the "Ross Dependency - 2010 Whales of the Southern Ocean" series.
He won his first commission from NZ Post about five years ago with another design brief given to him 18 months after that. Now comes the third contract which went on sale on Wednesday.
A one-man band, he operates his company Silver-i Design Associates from his Springvale Rd home. He made contact with NZ Post through its Collectables and Solutions Centre in Wanganui, formerly the Philatelic Bureau.
"I went in there one day and asked how I could get work from them. I then had to send samples of my work to the head office in Wellington. They told me if the work was the sort of thing they were looking for then I'd join a pool of designers they use to do work for them," Mr Garman said.
"With any design you try and make sure that each job is very special. But I've got a special interest in stamps because I still collect them. And it's (the whale) a lovely subject matter," he said.
The other appeal is that his stamps will go into albums kept by philatelists around the world.
"It's nice to think that long after I'm gone this could be in someone's stamp album," he said.
"It's not a New Zealand stamp and won't be on general release the same way you can buy most other stamps. If you put one on a letter it will still be honoured by the mail service, but it's more aimed at collectors.
There are five denominations in the new series with a sperm whale on the 60c stamp, the minke whale on the $1.20, the sei whale on the $1.90, a killer whale on the $2.40 and the giant humpback featured on the $2.90 stamp.
He also designs websites and branding and his work for a Wanganui Collegiate book has secured him work for another private school in Hamilton.
Designer comes up with whale of a job
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