In Hollywood, there are legends and there are legends. So while doing justice to any performer in the venerable Legends of Hollywood series is always a challenge, few careers can match the scope of Katharine Hepburn’s. Her stage career touched seven decades. She appeared in more than 40 movie roles, with 12 Academy Award nominations and four wins, unmatched for any performer. Two of those Oscars were nearly 50 years apart.
If one were to pick a signature movie for Katharine Hepburn, what would it be? Little Women (1933)? African Queen (1951)? On Golden Pond (1981)? And beyond the notable movie roles was the persona of Hepburn herself — a feminist before feminism who lived her life on her own terms, without apology.
“More than anything, I wanted to give her an elegant platform,” says Derry Noyes, art director for the stamp. “I wanted the design to stand out, but really to show off her natural beauty and talent.”
Noyes is a veteran of the Legends of Hollywood series, having served as art director for three previous Legends stamps: Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, and John Wayne. In approaching the design of this latest release, Noyes took several steps that honored the cadence of the series while setting the Katharine Hepburn stamp apart:
Fully black-and-white images: Noyes employed black and white to give Hepburn a special sense of class. Given the vintage of many Legends performers, this would seem like a common design decision, but it is not. Only the Alfred Hitchcock issuance (1998) features black-and-white images for both the stamp and the selvage designs.
Photography vs. illustration: Both Hepburn images use photography instead of an idealized illustration (once again, Alfred Hitchcock is the only other exception in the series). “Let’s face it, the camera was very good to Katharine Hepburn,” Noyes says.
Selvage image selection: While most Legends of Hollywood stamp panes use the selvage image to show off a signature role, Hepburn’s varied career denies easy categorization. So instead of a film, Noyes selected a stage role — Hepburn in a 1981 performance of West Side Waltz. In addition to honoring Hepburn’s stage performances, the image also pays homage to a long and distinguished career: Hepburn was in her 70s when she appeared in West Side Waltz.
Design and typography: With a black background and classic typeface, Noyes established a restrained design scheme that kept the focus on Hepburn. “I wanted to keep it low key, to keep respecting her and letting her shine through.”
“Kate Hepburn is in a class by herself,” Noyes says. And with May’s release of Katharine Hepburn, the Postal Service acknowledges a life and career that is truly among the legends of Hollywood.