Alyn is an Illustrator and printmaker based in Cardiff, UK. He creates printed paper goods including greetings cards, postcards, limited edition prints, and artist stamps. His practice surrounds the idea of creative play, making fun and engaging images using simple techniques such as rubber stamping or stenciling. Alyn teaches printing to adults and children through school and community-based projects spreading handmade joy everywhere he works.
Have you designed a stamp before?
Yes, I started by purchasing some of the lick & stick stamps which are a great way to have a go yourself and get started making your own stamps. Whilst studying at UWE for my master’s degree, I was able to use a Victorian perforator there to make some risograph printed stamps for a mini print exhibition in November 2019. That experimentation led me to getting some digital stamps printed with The Portland Stamp Company in April 2020. I produced two different sets of designs based on the weather and creative animals. These were lots of fun to create and they came out really well.
What was the most interesting or fun aspect of designing a poster stamp? What unique challenges did it present?
The biggest consideration for me was not only how it would look as a whole but where the perforations would be situated and how this would affect the stamp if the user decided to tear it or just keep it as a whole. I wanted to try and add something interesting to each stamp so when torn it would also work as a set of individual stamps.
Tell us about the art. Did you create something new for this stamp?
My work is influenced by nostalgic references such as mid-century design and toys. I have a couple of clockwork tin robots sitting on my desk and they seemed like the perfect inspiration to produce a new design for the poster stamp. I like the idea that the robot is being taken apart when the stamps are torn and possibly in a playful way can be put back together in a different order.
Anything else?
As mentioned before, I have experimented a bit using the risograph printing process to create some stamps. I was really keen to do more riso printing, and creating the poster stamp was a great opportunity to do so. There is an element of surprise in the printing process. Not knowing exactly how it will turn out is all part of the appeal of the risograph process for me.