Artist to send smile with stamps

The Hove-based illustrator usually works for magazines

An artist from East Sussex has created a set of stamps designed to put a smile on the face of sender and receiver.

The five Royal Mail stamps, which go on sale nationwide from Tuesday, are the work of Hove-based illustrator Satoshi Kambayashi.

They feature quirky, colourful images which aim to encourage people to send letters rather than texts or emails.

Mr Kambayashi, who usually works for newspapers and magazines, won a Royal Mail competition to design the stamps.

It just came to me that the shape of a smile is like the opening of an envelope itself Illustrator Satoshi Kambayashi

They are based around the central image of an envelope.

Mr Kambayashi said: "The idea was to have a set of general greetings stamps to send to other people and I thought of something jolly, therefore sending a smile.

"It just came to me that the shape of a smile is like the opening of an envelope itself."

A presentation pack of the stamp set includes a board game based on the theme of delivering a letter.

Royal Mail spokesman Patrick Breen said: "I'm sure the stamps will prove popular with the public."