Magpie Studio designs Winnie the Pooh stamps

The consultancy came through a three-way pitch to win the commission in December 2008 and was tasked with celebrating AA Milne’s character, through Shephard’s illustrations.

‘There was a lot of picture research and it was a case of going through old books and trying different combinations,’ says consultancy director Jamie Ellul, who adds, ‘We needed to get a different character on each stamp.’

Original black and white illustrations have been sourced to ensure authenticity, according to Ellul, who says later colour illustrations of the characters cannot be verified as the work of Shephard.

The special-edition stamps, which go on sale today, take drawings from Winnie-the-Pooh, The House At Pooh Corner and the book of verse Now We Are Six.

Magpie Studio has also won a three-way pitch to design the Royal Mail year book – a hardback collectors’ annual containing all of the special-edition stamps produced during the course of a year. This will be produced for Christmas 2011.