#NFTimbre1

The contract

The #NFT ONE stamp: a dreamlike summary of the world of mail

"I was passionate about this project," explains Faunesque, the artist chosen to illustrate La Poste's very first NFT stamp. In the end, the drawing shows a swirl of objects coming out of a letterbox. It's as if the box opens up to release a whole world: postcards, envelopes, administrative letters, love letters, souvenirs, gifts... Everything is movement, rhythm, radiance. But nothing is frenetic. On the contrary, the universe is poetic, like a dream of pastel colours, sprinkled with touches of red or bright pink. The postman on his bike seems to be flying to deliver messages. As for the flowers, we can of course imagine them dried, slipped into an envelope. They are also a key element in the world of Faunesque, for whom nature has always been a source of inspiration. Or perhaps it was his daughter who inspired him to come up with the idea: "My youngest was born just as I was about to make the final touches to the stamp," recalls the illustrator.

Printing: a masterpiece of craftsmanship

Philaposte has taken care of all the printing details to magnify the artist's work and respect every detail of the stamp. The bright pink and red touches are covered with a varnish that makes them stand out: a work of goldsmith, while some of the details are no bigger than a pinhead. The "NFT stamp" symbol (bottom right) is microperforated. This is the first time Philaposte has used this printing process, helping to increase the value and quality of the stamp.

The artist : Faunesque, between modernity and classicism

Faunesque (real name Phil Constantinesco) only became Faunesque in 2015, when he gave up his job as a motion designer to devote himself exclusively to illustration. After graduating from Strasbourg's Institut supérieur des arts appliqués in the mid-2000s, Phil Constentinesco first set up a graphic design studio with a friend. For a time, he worked for MTV, designing packaging for TV programmes. At the same time, he drew a lot of flowers, plants and animals - hence the name Faunesque. He now lives in Brussels and works for a number of magazines, from Marie-Claire and Phosphore to Psychologies Magazine, L'Express and Télérama. He's just as good with a stylus on a tablet as he is with a pencil on paper. In all cases, his attention to detail is subtle, gentle and poetic. In the manner of Takashi Murakami and James Jean - two artists he is very fond of - he feeds his art with traditional Japanese inspiration, combined with the most advanced digital illustration techniques.