How the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games stamps were designed

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Howard Brown is behind the design of a set of six Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Stamps for the Royal Mail, which feature illustrations by Nanette Hoogslag and photography by Andy Hooper.

Brown’s compositions show action and movement exaggerated by a series of lines and countours which indicate direction and speed.

Swimming, para-sport track cycling – which makes its debut at the Glasgow Games – squash, judo, netball and the marathon have all been depicted.

Brown first worked with Hoogslag ‘to create montages by assembling figures that showed a particular type of movement,’ he says.

Hooper then worked with athletes, shooting them with the aim of capturing the sense of movement indicated by the montage layouts.

Brown says, ‘Andy [Hooper] set up shoots for each sport. He did the cycling one in the Manchester Velodrome and he even did the swimming one underwater.’

Black and white images were then given a two-colour treatment by Brown and Hoogslag set about ‘creating effects and contrasts’ which Brown says ‘had to be quite restrained for her – she normally does more abstract work’.

Brown has also added a simplified silver version of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games logo, and created an XX numeral icon out of the Scottish flag as this is the 20th Commonwealth Games.

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