Stamp designs give 'big sense of accomplishment'

Izabela Garczynska said it was "surreal" to have her designs on a stamp

Creative media students responsible for a set of Isle of Man Christmas stamps said being involved in the project had given them a "very big sense of accomplishment" as their designs would be seen "all over the world".

The Crank Up Christmas collection marks 50 years since the opening of the Homefield Road Campus of University College Isle of Man (UCM).

The six week project saw 12 students tasked with depicting Manx festive heritage and the evolution of Christmas traditions.

Jack Nelson, 18, said even though the stamps themselves were "something so small", they meant the students' work would be sent far and wide.

Jack worked alongside Oliver Guess as part of a team of three to create a design featuring the annual Santas on a Bike ride out.

Oliver, 18, said while at first it had seemed like "another unit or task" on the course, as the project progressed it had "started to become quite real".

On seeing the finished project, he said it felt "quite amazing" to have designed a stamp.

Jack Nelson (left) and Oliver Guess used the annual Santas on a Bike ride out in their design

Bringing together aspects of the college with Manx Christmas traditions, the six-stamp collection also includes the annual lights switch-on, the ball game cammag, Hunt the Wren and the folk play the White Boys.

The stamp designed by 18-year-old Izabela Garczynska portrays a key character in the 195-year-old play seen cutting a ribbon to open UCM's Homefield Road campus, which is contained within a snow globe.

She said it was "surreal" that the designs would be seen worldwide and had been approved by King Charles III and she was grateful to have been part of the project.

Explaining how her design came about, she said she "had the idea and ran with it".

The stamps are set to be made available from 22 October

Creative Media lecturer Ewan Macfarlane said the students had "done themselves so proud".

Explaining the process, he said once the ideas were refined by the teams, they were all drawn out by one student to ensure consistency across the collection.

Isle of Man Post Office's Maxine Cannon said as well as marking UCM's anniversary, the collaboration had allowed "creatives of the future to have the opportunity to share their thoughts and hopes with a global audience".