About This Stamp
In 2008 the U.S. Postal Service issued five definitive stamps picturing tropical fruits that look good enough to eat. Illustrator Sergio Baradat created art that visually slices or halves five tropical fruits — pomegranate, kiwi, star fruit, papaya, and guava — depicting them in eye-catching and mouth-watering color.
Art Director & Designer
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.
Stamp Artist
Sergio Baradat
Sergio Baradat earned a BA in Illustration from Parsons School of Design in New York, and then taught illustration and design from 1992-2004 at his alma mater.
Baradat is responsible for the illustration and design of a number of postage stamps for the United States and the United Nations where he currently serves as Creative Director.
During more than 20 years of working as an illustrator, photographer, and designer, Baradat has won awards of excellence from major design institutions including AIGA, Print, American Illustration, American Photography, and the Society of Illustrators. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Newsweek.
Corporate clients have included AT&T, ITT, the NFL, Esteé Lauder, Condé Nast, and Swatch, among others. Baradat’s work is represented in the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Institution and National Postal Museum, AIGA Design Archives, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, The Cuban Heritage Collection, and The White House. Baradat's first project for the Postal Service™ was the Mambo stamp in the Let’s Dance/Bailemos pane issued in 2005. He also illustrated Tropical Fruit (2008) and most recently Seashells (2017).