Andy Pastuszak
Member 
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591 
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 19, 2023 20:48:50 GMT
This isn't exactly an "Apple to Apples" comparison since one page is 8½x11 and the other is 10x11½. But I'm curious what people think of the style of the pages
My original stamp page design for my Ukraine album looks like this:
When I played with bigger page sizes, I completely redid the pages and this is what I came up with:
I'd like to know what people like better and why. And what would you change on either page to make it look better for you.
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Post by classicalstamps on Mar 19, 2023 21:13:47 GMT
I prefer the new/last page design. Reason: To me, the top Map/Flag artwork takes up too much of the page. Having this across 100's of pages I think is a bit tedious.
(Personally, I would integrate the artwork and title in the top borderline, but that is another discussion)
After choosing between your two pages - to further improve things, I will suggest two improvements:
1. Stick to just one font. Bold and italics are fine, but the "2022" in the headline is something else.
2. The page will be much "easier on the eyes" if you had the same amount of white space between the top and the headline, as in the bottom below the text.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 19, 2023 21:55:44 GMT
I tried to make all one font, and I did not like the look of it. When I look at pages from Scott and White Ace, they don't use one font. I'm trying to figure out what to do about the spacing.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 19, 2023 22:06:34 GMT
I redid the page to use 2 fonts: PT Serif and PT Sans
Opinion?
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Post by classicalstamps on Mar 19, 2023 22:24:49 GMT
If you want to use two fonts, I think the latter is much better, as they resemble each other more. Seeking album perfection, I look more at desktop publishing best-practices than old album producers stuck with decades old design decisions made before the invention of modern technology. You use 13 lines of text below the F-Y stamps. Consider using two columns, like this:  If you got rid of the border, you would solve your white-space problem. I use a one-line header myself:   I know, stamp albums have used borders for 100 years. But it is the best approach? But in the end, beauty is subjective and each of us luckily collect the way we want. You have set yourself up for a very difficult task - creating beautiful pages for modern stamps typically issued as singles in a lot of different sizes is not an easy task. |
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 19, 2023 23:08:03 GMT
What binder is that?
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 0:51:43 GMT
You make a very valid point about the borders. I've spent a LOT of time trying to find or create the perfect border. And I am only doing it because everyone else is doing it. There's really no reason for a border. It actually makes the page look cleaner.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 0:57:30 GMT
Another quick tweak.
Stamps that are part of a set, I mount 2 mm apart from each other.
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Post by classicalstamps on Mar 20, 2023 7:49:37 GMT
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Post by classicalstamps on Mar 20, 2023 7:50:42 GMT
You make a very valid point about the borders. I've spent a LOT of time trying to find or create the perfect border. And I am only doing it because everyone else is doing it. There's really no reason for a border. It actually makes the page look cleaner.
I came to the same conclusion when I set myself "free" a couple of years ago  |
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Post by classicalstamps on Mar 20, 2023 7:54:07 GMT
Another quick tweak.
Stamps that are part of a set, I mount 2 mm apart from each other.
I used to use 2mm between as well, but have since switched to 3mm. Depending on if you use use hinges or the type of mounts, you might want to try a few different distances to see what works best. 2mm:  3mm:  |
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,696
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Mar 20, 2023 10:23:55 GMT
I also like the single line at top when not trying to match Steiner pages/
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 12:22:30 GMT
A 22 ring binder required a 22 ring hole punch. |
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clivel
Member
Posts: 385
What I collect: Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Rhodesias, South Africa, Swaziland, Israel to 1980, Ireland predecimal, Palestine Mandate
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Post by clivel on Mar 20, 2023 14:02:45 GMT
Not my own album. It has 22 rings. Have not seen these readily offered for sale. Similar to the commonly available Lindner 18 ring binder: They are not particularly cheap, and postage to Canada only adds to the pain, but, most of my albums are fairly small, and, postage from the US to Canada often seems to me to be more expensive than from the UK.
Clive
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 17:14:15 GMT
This is going to sound really stupid, but the lack of a page border is really liberating in a lot of ways for me. If I need just a few more millimeters to fit a stamp in a row, now I have it. Or if a miniature sheet is a little wider than the border, I don't have to deal with that now.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 17:21:34 GMT
Not my own album. It has 22 rings. Have not seen these readily offered for sale. Similar to the commonly available Lindner 18 ring binder: They are not particularly cheap, and postage to Canada only adds to the pain, but, most of my albums are fairly small, and, postage from the US to Canada often seems to me to be more expensive than from the UK.
Clive
I have always found binders that have more than 3 rings to be better. But trying to find a 6 ring or greater binder in the US is frustrating. Those binders are almost always A5 or smaller.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 19:52:30 GMT
I've been watching videos about fonts on YouTube to find some new ones to check out, and I actually found a video that kind of offended me. The guy was VERY insistent that you NEVER use free fonts. If someone does quality work on a font, there is just no way he could give it away for free. He wants to be paid for his time and effort. So, anyone that makes a free font is either releasing a sub-par font, or doesn't know what they're doing and isn't worth your time.
As someone who's made a LOT of stamp pages and given them ALL away for free, I kind of got offended. Is my work sub-par? Do I not know what I am doing? If I actually liked the pages I did, I'd be charging for them, wouldn't I? My stuff just can't be that good.
I guess this guy never heard of Linux, the computer operating system that pretty much runs the planet now, yet is freely given away by Linus Torvalds.
What a narrow world-view this guy has...
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Post by PostmasterGS on Mar 20, 2023 21:42:05 GMT
I give my stuff away for free because I can't guarantee the level of support I'll be able to provide between work, my own collecting priorities, etc. There will always be complaints, but at least I don't feel obligated to address them when the product is free.
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brookbam
Member
APS 236261
Posts: 235
What I collect: US...everything until I decide what I don't want to collect! And now thanks to a TSF give-away I'm adding Space topicals!
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Post by brookbam on Mar 20, 2023 22:27:59 GMT
I've been watching videos about fonts on YouTube to find some new ones to check out, and I actually found a video that kind of offended me. The guy was VERY insistent that you NEVER use free fonts. If someone does quality work on a font, there is just no way he could give it away for free. He wants to be paid for his time and effort. So, anyone that makes a free font is either releasing a sub-par font, or doesn't know what they're doing and isn't worth your time. As someone who's made a LOT of stamp pages and given them ALL away for free, I kind of got offended. Is my work sub-par? Do I not know what I am doing? If I actually liked the pages I did, I'd be charging for them, wouldn't I? My stuff just can't be that good. I guess this guy never heard of Linux, the computer operating system that pretty much runs the planet now, yet is freely given away by Linus Torvalds. What a narrow world-view this guy has... Some people also have a superiority complex that just can't be beat.
No use trying to bring them back to planet earth. Go to the next YouTube video and drive on.
I paint Warhammer 40k miniatures in my spare time (whatever that is...). One day my co-worker brought in a dollar store toy soldier figure that was about 8" high. He said "Here Mike, see what you can do with this." It had the horrendous joints, legs and arms were hollow on the back side. I took it, got it posed. Started filling in the joints and all the hollow areas and got it painted. I had a friend make a nice base for it and then after the bare base didn't look right with my now highly detailed painted dollar store soldier, I had to detail the base too. Another week of detail magic. When I got all done I put "Happy Kidney Day" on the bottom of it for the day his wife got her kidney transplant. Anyway, I took that in and showed him "what I could do with it." He was pretty impressed. He went to hand it back to me and I told him "You gotta look at the bottom dude." When he did I thought he was going to cry.
I gave it away and I RARELY give any of my projects away. Guess that was sub-par too. LOL.
I've been retired out of that shop for over three years. He is still out there. So is that model up on a shelf in his office.
Mike
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 23:45:20 GMT
I give my stuff away for free because I can't guarantee the level of support I'll be able to provide between work, my own collecting priorities, etc. There will always be complaints, but at least I don't feel obligated to address them when the product is free. Same here. Soon as you charge people for something, they expect and deserve support. |
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 20, 2023 23:49:12 GMT
I've been watching videos about fonts on YouTube to find some new ones to check out, and I actually found a video that kind of offended me. The guy was VERY insistent that you NEVER use free fonts. If someone does quality work on a font, there is just no way he could give it away for free. He wants to be paid for his time and effort. So, anyone that makes a free font is either releasing a sub-par font, or doesn't know what they're doing and isn't worth your time. As someone who's made a LOT of stamp pages and given them ALL away for free, I kind of got offended. Is my work sub-par? Do I not know what I am doing? If I actually liked the pages I did, I'd be charging for them, wouldn't I? My stuff just can't be that good. I guess this guy never heard of Linux, the computer operating system that pretty much runs the planet now, yet is freely given away by Linus Torvalds. What a narrow world-view this guy has... Some people also have a superiority complex that just can't be beat.
No use trying to bring them back to planet earth. Go to the next YouTube video and drive on.
I paint Warhammer 40k miniatures in my spare time (whatever that is...). One day my co-worker brought in a dollar store toy soldier figure that was about 8" high. He said "Here Mike, see what you can do with this." It had the horrendous joints, legs and arms were hollow on the back side. I took it, got it posed. Started filling in the joints and all the hollow areas and got it painted. I had a friend make a nice base for it and then after the bare base didn't look right with my now highly detailed painted dollar store soldier, I had to detail the base too. Another week of detail magic. When I got all done I put "Happy Kidney Day" on the bottom of it for the day his wife got her kidney transplant. Anyway, I took that in and showed him "what I could do with it." He was pretty impressed. He went to hand it back to me and I told him "You gotta look at the bottom dude." When he did I thought he was going to cry.
I gave it away and I RARELY give any of my projects away. Guess that was sub-par too. LOL.
I've been retired out of that shop for over three years. He is still out there. So is that model up on a shelf in his office.
Mike
Back when I was a teenager, I used to paint metal miniatures for AD&D. I found all my miniatures at my parents' house. I stripped 2 to repaint them and learned my 54-year-old eyesight is not the same as my 16-year-old eyesight was. Not only was I 38 years out of practice. I just can't see that close any more. And miniatures from the 80s don't have as much detail as modern miniatures do. |
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brookbam
Member
APS 236261
Posts: 235
What I collect: US...everything until I decide what I don't want to collect! And now thanks to a TSF give-away I'm adding Space topicals!
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Post by brookbam on Mar 21, 2023 0:59:36 GMT
Some people also have a superiority complex that just can't be beat.
No use trying to bring them back to planet earth. Go to the next YouTube video and drive on.
I paint Warhammer 40k miniatures in my spare time (whatever that is...). One day my co-worker brought in a dollar store toy soldier figure that was about 8" high. He said "Here Mike, see what you can do with this." It had the horrendous joints, legs and arms were hollow on the back side. I took it, got it posed. Started filling in the joints and all the hollow areas and got it painted. I had a friend make a nice base for it and then after the bare base didn't look right with my now highly detailed painted dollar store soldier, I had to detail the base too. Another week of detail magic. When I got all done I put "Happy Kidney Day" on the bottom of it for the day his wife got her kidney transplant. Anyway, I took that in and showed him "what I could do with it." He was pretty impressed. He went to hand it back to me and I told him "You gotta look at the bottom dude." When he did I thought he was going to cry.
I gave it away and I RARELY give any of my projects away. Guess that was sub-par too. LOL.
I've been retired out of that shop for over three years. He is still out there. So is that model up on a shelf in his office.
Mike
Back when I was a teenager, I used to paint metal miniatures for AD&D. I found all my miniatures at my parents' house. I stripped 2 to repaint them and learned my 54-year-old eyesight is not the same as my 16-year-old eyesight was. Not only was I 38 years out of practice. I just can't see that close any more. And miniatures from the 80s don't have as much detail as modern miniatures do. I have to use one of those lighted magnifiers. And when it is really tiny, then I turn to my stereo microscope on a sliding stand. I'm 63...64 in Sep.
Mike
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,696
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Mar 21, 2023 9:46:03 GMT
Related to Ukraine, has Russia issued stamps specifically for the occupied areas - Crimea, eastern Ukraine?
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 21, 2023 19:09:41 GMT
Related to Ukraine, has Russia issued stamps specifically for the occupied areas - Crimea, eastern Ukraine? I believe they use standard Russian postage stamps.
When the the DPR and LPH existed, they issued their own stamps. Most Ukrainian collectors consider them to be Cinderellas.
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Andy Pastuszak
Member
Praying for my family and everyone in Ukraine.
Posts: 1,591
What I collect: United States, Ukraine, Ireland
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Post by Andy Pastuszak on Mar 21, 2023 19:12:10 GMT
Interesting side-note. There is a large pile of "Russian Warship, Go F*** Yourself!" stamps reserved for distribution in liberated territories. Expect more of these stamps to come to market if the war goes well.
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