You’ve doubtless heard of the famed September issue (of Vogue). Why is it traditionally so important? Well, as the seasons shift, so too does our wardrobe — and the well-heeled need to know what to wear.
However, if you are a dyed-in-the-wool paper nerd, perhaps you pass up Vogue in favor of the Fall Issue of the USA Philatelic. Issued by the United States Postal Service and utterly free, it’s a heady glimpse into what the best-dressed snail mail will be wearing the season. (You will know I truly adore you if you get a letter from me featuring a precious Pinback Stamp!)
When it comes to the quarterly publication I edit, Stationery Trends, the Fall Issue poses a certain amount of challenges. Because it does not go to a physical market and is issued long after marketing budgets run dry, traditionally it tends to be overlooked.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of fun with it. I love delving into where design may be taking us next year. Each Fall Issue features my annual abecedary, Design A to Z, which offers a quick, visually rich presentation of trend directions I’m seeing.
This year’s Fall Issue stands out to me for a few reasons. First, it has my first Annual ST Buying Guide. Yes, this issue does not go to a market, but there is still a lot of holiday wholesale ordering occuring, so I took a deep dive into the ultimate gifts for The Bookworm, The Green Thumb and of course the Homebody + Hostess.
Now, let’s talk cover. [Insert drumroll here!] Fresh off creating all the incredible Stationery Store Day branding for Calliope Paperie, Krista Perry has released an expansive Red Cap Cards range of greeting cards, gift bags and giftwrap — and from the time I spied them in my Insta feed, I just knew they HAD to be my cover!
I work with our Associate Creative Director Amanda Mackey to generate these, and she actually presented three different cover crops from the image you see at the top and bottom of this post. My gut told me our cover had to showcase the strawberry and mushroom, but also shout out the world’s cutest Pygmy Hippo, Moo Deng.
That will officially close my editorializing about my editorial in this post — as I prefer my readers experience the issue without hearing me pontificate about it. Fortunately, the team at Great American Media Services (the parent company of Stationery Trends) has graciously allowed me to share the digital issue a day early. So happy reading, 24 hours early! It’s our gift to you.
But, the fun doesn’t end there! Clearly our readers appreciate paper, and if like me, you prefer an actual publication, follow this here link to get a year of free Stationery Trends delivered to your doorstep.
So, who said print is dead again? I sincerely hope everyone reading this takes advantage of a glorious free year of Stationery Trends as well as The USA Philatelic— and that both inspire copious amounts of snail mail to be sent out into the world!
