Royal Mail unveils its Christmas stamps for 2019, designed by Charlie Smith Design

The London studio worked with paper-cutting artist duo Hari and Deepti to craft this year’s Nativity-themed collection. The result is a design that is both contemporary and classic, fresh and traditional.

The 1st class stamp focuses on Madonna and Child, while the other images include an angel, Joseph, shepherds, Three Wise Men and a manger scene.

The challenge for Charlie Smith Design was to keep the design bold and contemporary but differentiable from previous years, while always ensuring the detail holds when reproduced at such a small size.

Also part of the brief was to achieve a three-dimensional quality. "We explored a variety of mediums from tapestry to wood to engraving, but paper cut art proved to be the most suitable to retain the most amount of detail," says Charlie Smith, Founder and Creative Director at the studio.

In addition to working on the Christmas issue, the studio also designed the accompanying collectable products, including a presentation pack and 'first day cover'.

"Hari and Deepti were the perfect fit with their intricate paper-cut lightboxes, meticulous and beguiling compositions which create stylistically unique rich, jewel-like scenes wholly appropriate for the festive season," she adds.

The Royal Mail Christmas Special Stamps are now available to purchase.