USPS Redesign Guide
Joanna Izzo
Now that we live in a digital age, I have decided to make it my mission to revive print using Post Office collateral. The Postal Service came immediately to mind because it is one of the oldest forms of communication design. As a student of this major I have constantly grappled to understand what the phrase Communication Design precisely entails, and for me, the Postal Service is the most obvious way to sum up this area of design. There is somuchgoingoninthis particular communication system, that I will be able to work specifically in this area alone. My main goal is to take what may seem mundane to the public, and transform it into a visually interesting and fun experience for them. Here, for example, are several ways I can achieve this; by refreshing the design of stamps, by redesigning the way return addresses appear on envelopes, or even by reshaping envelopes. I would begin this process by interviewing people in the industry to see how they feel about the digital age overtaking the age of print, and to find out if it really is a threat to their careers. I think it would be particularly interesting toseeifthereisaneed for something new to sweep over and refresh the overall look of the Postal Service industry. I am also interested in figuring out the root or history of sending receiving personal letters. When did this begin,when did it stop, and most importantly, what made it exciting? Nowadays it would seem that people think mail is mainly for the receiving/ sending of bills, or that it exists just to bombard us with junk mail. I believe that the digital takeover of sending/receiving information (simple letters) through email has become increasingly impersonal, especially now that text messaging has overtaken it. Perhaps weneedtofindawayto hold on to the tradition of print through a more aesthetically forceful solution. What if junk mail wasn’t junk, but something beautiful and amazing?