Studio Sutherl& designs murder mystery stamps for Royal Mail

Everything from heat sensitive inks and microtext to negative space have been used to help people solve the mysteries of classic Christie novels.

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Studio Sutherl& founder Jim Sutherl& has designed a set of six interactive Agatha Christie-themed stamps revealing the answers to classic Christie murder mysteries.

Each of the stamps is based on a separate novel by Agatha Christie, the best selling novelist of all time.

Sutherland says “visual illusions have been combined with print techniques to give hidden clues.”

People will be able to interact with the stamps as “heat sensitive ink reveals a killer behind a curtain on the train, micro text reproduces a suicide note, and Poirot and Hastings investigate a poisonous crime scene and form a skull,” says Sutherland.

Positive and negative space has also been used to help symbolise the answers to the mysteries.

“There are lots of hidden clues to see and discover with and without magnifying glasses,” says Sutherland, who has worked closely with illustrator Neil Webb.

You will need a magnifying glass for the micro-text stamp though, and you’ll need UV light for another.

Webb says he worked alongside Sutherland with “both of us sketching and selecting compositions that conveyed the drama with a visual twist.” He adds: “I’m a big of fan of noir and of design of that era generally, so this was a dream job.”

The stamps also commemorate Christie’s birthday. She was born 126 years ago on 15 September 1890.

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  • Neil Littman September 18, 2016 at 10:25 am

    Brilliant. Upholding a tradition of design standards for the Royal Mail. I am really impressed with this set of stamps. The shame is whether we will see much of the stamps in daily use. On the mail I receive which is mostly business and junk it is rare to see stamps like this used at all. Nearly everything I receive is franked.

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