UN, FOOD for LIFE

[장세영]

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The World Food Programme (WFP) is the front-line United Nations agency in the fight against global hunger. It is the world’s largest humanitarian agency, providing food aid to an average of 90 million people, including 56 million children in more than 80 countries. Its operations aim to save lives in refugee crises and other emergencies; improve nutrition and the quality of life of the world’s most vulnerable people at critical times in their lives; and enable development by helping people build assets that benefit them directly and promoting the self-reliance of poor people and communities.

Each year on 16 October, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrates World Food Day in commemoration of its founding on that day in 1945 at Quebec City, Canada. The aim of World Food Day, proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of FAO, is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the General Assembly endorsed observance of the Day in consideration of the fact that “food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity”. This annual celebration, observed worldwide, also coincides with TeleFood — FAO’s campaign to raise awareness about the plight of the world’s hungry people and mobilize resources to help them. The World Food Day and TeleFood theme for 2005 is “Agriculture and intercultural dialogue”.

On 20 October 2005, the United Nations Postal Administration (in cooperation with the World Food Programme) will issue a set of six commemorative stamps on the theme “Food for Life”.

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Stamp Specifications
The stamps, in denominations of 37 cents, 80 cents, F.s. 1,00, F.s. 1,30, ?? 0,55 and ?? 1,25, measure 50 mm horizontally by 35 mm vertically, perforation to perforation. Perforation: 13 1/2 x 13 3/4.4.

The horizontal sheets of 20 stamps have four marginal inscriptions, two in the left margin and two in the right margin. The marginal inscription consists of the World Food Programme emblem with the text “United Nations” above the emblem and the year 2005 below the emblem. One copyright symbol with the year 2005 appears in the lower left margin and the artist’s signature appears
in the lower right margin.

Printing
The stamps were printed in offset by Österreichische Staatsdruckerei (Austria).

Denominations and Quantities

37 cents 80 cents F.s. 1,00 F.s. 1,30 ?? 0,55 ?? 1,25

245,000 stamps 185,000 stamps 170,000 stamps 170,000 stamps 210,000 stamps 210,000 stamps

(12,250 sheets) (9,250 sheets) (8,500 sheets) (8,500 sheets) (10,500 sheets) (10,500 sheets)

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The Designer - Andrew Davidson

The stamps were designed by Andrew Davidson (United Kingdom). Andrew Davidson
belongs to a long, distinguished line of British artists, illustrators and designers, whose work once enriched almost everything that was printed. He keeps alive a tradition which is based on the irreplaceable disciplines of objective drawing, a strong sense of design and the tactile pleasures of craftsmanship. Even as a young student at Norwich School of Art, his work and that of his contemporaries gained strength from a solid academic base which underpinned innovation and experimentation.

After leaving Norwich, he became a student in the graphic design department at the Royal College of Art, where one of his tutors was Brian Tattersfield, then one of the partners of the highly successful Minale Tattersfield Design Group and one of his earliest mentors. By the time he graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1982, he was a highly developed artist and designer, and he quickly gained commissions from a great variety of sources. For Minale Tattersfield he illustrated packaging for a large range of natural food products, which have since been endlessly imitated. The finely tuned sense of design and integrity of approach make Mr. Davidson particularly adept at creating imagery for packaging, and he has a long list of clients in this field.

Perhaps Mr. Davidson’s most important early commission was from John McConnell of Pentagram, who asked him to illustrate The Iron Man by Ted Hughes for Faber and Faber. His work on this book brought together all of his skills, the most dominant being his dramatic sense of design, which more than anything else gives so much life to his work.

While Mr. Davidson’s early work was mostly engraving, with occasional hand-tinting, it was a full-colour commission from David Stuart of The Partners that really established his now signature colour style. The illustrations were awarded a D&AD Silver Award for illustration in 1987 and have been very influential in the establishment of his reputation for illustration that is very finely tuned with a real graphic design skill.

A particularly enjoyable recent commission has been that by Paul Buckley of Penguin USA for the re-jacketing of the entire John Steinbeck series. A restrained and tasteful design beautifully offsets the considered and exquisitely rendered engravings. He has been involved in many important projects in publishing and advertising and, most significantly here, he has illustrated several issues of stamps for the Royal Mail.

These are Mr. Davidson’s second stamp designs for the United Nations. In 1998, he designed six commemorative stamps on the theme “50 Years of United Nations Peacekeeping”.

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SPECIAL FIRST DAY CANCELLATIONS on 20 October 2005 On 20 October 2005, special first day hand-cancellations for the "Food for Life" stamps will be available at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Palais des Nations, Geneva, and the Vienna International Centre. The New York hand-cancellation is illustrated here: