Postcrossing Blog

Early last year we mentioned a project called Dear Data, in which two ladies across the Atlantic exchanged drawn infographic postcards every week, detailing one specific aspect of their lives. Things such as complaints they uttered or compliments they’ve received, or even very specific things like animals they saw or doors they went through were all counted and sketched into white postcards, and then posted to each other. They kept it up for a whole year, collecting data and turning the experiment into a weekly ritual of discovery.

The project was so popular that it didn’t surprise me to discover it was edited in a book format recently, and I think it’s even better to browse the postcards this way, in an analogue format equivalent to that in which they came to life.

The postcard images remain intriguing and unreadable at first glance, inviting further investigation in order to decode them. The legends on the back though are super detailed and often contain several layers of information to add to their complexity… it’s astonishing to realize how much data they must have collected over the year!

The pages in-between postcards are also funny and often provide insights or little anecdotes into Stefanie and Georgia’s lives… like how they both discovered their love for Haribo gummy bears on week 17!

Slowly, throughout the book, you also realise how a conversation is happening between the designers through their correspondence, how they’re getting to know each other and thinking a bit more about their lives through the analysis that is taking place in real time.

All in all, Dear Data is a remarkable book, inspiring us to slow down and really observe what is happening all around… and then grab our pens to put all these interesting details into our postcards!

PS – Sadly, it’s also very noticeable on the book how badly US machines treat their outbound mail… Why, USPS, why?! 😠

Some time ago, Audrey (aka belladomanda) from the US sent us a tip about this wonderful paper artist she had stumbled upon. Have a look:

These stunning landscapes are made by Italian artist Caterina Rossato, who lives in a quiet town north of Venice. We were mesmerised by her intricate sceneries and the way she juxtapose details from dozens of different postcards to create new imaginary worlds. Curious to know more, we reached out to Caterina who kindly agreed to reply to a few questions about her work.

Hi Caterina! Could you tell us a bit more about yourself?

My name is Caterina Rossato and I live in Bassano del Grappa, where I have my base camp. I like to move around, follow multiple projects simultaneously and suddenly fall in love with something that makes me forget what I was doing. I do not like to wait for the right moment and I hate perfection.

On weekends I like to climb mountains or go skiing on the glaciers with my partner. From this height you can see a bigger slice of the world.

How did you start doing these mini landscapes? What inspires you?

It all started with the idea of breaking down the images and put them together, then with the need to sublimate into a single image multiple points of view or all the photos taken during a trip or a day. I create images in which all possible visuals and temporal variations of an experience are concentrated. They are two-dimensional images but developed in a sculptural way, made of levels, intersections, overlaps and joints. The viewer feels a sense of familiarity and alienation at the same time. Right now I’m working on a project with CNC milling machines that will allow me to combine these fragments into a third dimension.

And on a more practical level, where do you find all these postcards?

In the case of analog collages, I buy stock of postcards from Ebay or local merchants: about 4000 – 5000 postcards every time. I always try to buy postcards from different areas and I usually change suppliers. When I compose digital collage I use hundreds of photographs taken by me in a specific landscape or I do research on the internet to find what I need, always in really high resolution.

Both analog and digital cutouts are organised in very detailed catalogs: analog clippings are divided into a filing cabinet with many drawers, digital ones go into folders and subfolders on my mac.

Are you a postcard or letter writer yourself?

For many years I’ve been writing letters and postcards to my grandmother who lives far away from me. I started because I had the need to find a personal way to communicate with her, as she’s not able to send messages by mobile phone and with age her hearing has deteriorated making talking on the phone impossible. Given that other old uncles also live in my grandmother’s building, I started to write to all of them, in order to avoid upsetting anyone… so the arrival of the mail has become a highly anticipated moment, both for me and for them.

Whenever my grandmother receives a postcard she sticks it under the calendar. I’m interested in this shared time devoted to the thought and the gaze.

Can you show us a picture of your workspace, or a mini-landscape work in progress?

Thank you Caterina, that was wonderful! 😊 You can find these and other projects of Caterina on her website, caterinarossato.com.

February is here… which means it’s time for another Month of Letters challenge! Are you in? :)

On September 2011, Mary Robinette Kowal decided it was time for a break. She spent the entire month offline, and asked her friends to communicate with her through letters. The results of this personal challenge were a revelation:

When I write back, I find that I slow down and write differently than I do with an email. Email is all about the now. Letters are different, because whatever I write needs to be something that will be relevant a week later to the person to whom I am writing. In some ways it forces me to think about time more because postal mail is slower. “By the time you get this…” It is relaxing. It is intimate. It is both lasting and ephemeral.

How so? I find that I will often read the letters that I receive twice. Once when I get them and again as I write back. So, that makes it more lasting. It is more ephemeral because I don’t have copies of the letters that I write and I am the only one who has copies of the letters that my correspondents write. So, more ephemeral.

I know a lot of postcrossers share these feelings – this is part of the reason why Postcrossing exists!

Mary’s decided to turn February into a Month of Letters, in which she challenges herself and everyone who decides to join to write and send at least a piece of postal mail every day. Here are the rules:

Mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

We can’t help but feel that postcrossers have their work cut out for them in this challenge… :) Nevertheless, we wanted to dare you all to do it! Write postcards, letters or aerogrammes or surprise a friend with an unexpected package. Maybe even pick a Facebook/Twitter friend and send them an offline “hello!”.

Are you up to Mary’s challenge? Grab your stationery and stamps and start writing! :)

How do you mend a broken heart? In the midst of all the sadness and sorrow, some people turn to gloomy songs that seem to sing to the tune of a broken heart… others to ice-cream, chocolate or cheesy romantic comedies.

Some people turn to literature though, to the great romances and classical couples — and of these, Romeo and Juliet are the epitome of the star-crossed lovers. If anyone could understand them, surely it would be Juliet. If only one could write to her…

Actually you can — and many people do, sending thousands of letters every year simply addressed to “Juliet, Verona, Italy”. The missives are delivered to Il Club di Giulietta (Juliet’s Club), a group of volunteers in Verona who take the time to read and reply to all the letters, by hand. They explain:

“The story of the Juliet Letters starts in the 1930’s when Ettore Solimani, the guardian of Juliet’s Tomb, began gathering the first letters people left at the grave and, moved by this phenomenon, he started replying, thus becoming the first “Juliet’s secretary”. Today this special task is taken by the Juliet Club: each letter is read, translated, answered by the ”Juliet’s secretaries" who keep a one-of-a-kind archive that contains thousands of love stories and countless words of love."

Last month, a group of Italian postcrossers visited the club’s office, where they were treated to a guided tour by Manuela Uber, one of Juliet’s secretaries. They listened to the story of the club, looked through some letters and took a lot of nice photos to share the experience!

Afterwards, they all sat down in a pizzeria to eat… and write some postcards, naturally! :)

Thank you Kinucci for telling us about this lovely meetup, and Saintursula, Antonella-, uncoiled_tiger and Jeraldine for letting us show your photos.

PS – If you’re in the mood for a cheesy romantic comedy, there’s also a movie about Il Club di Giulietta, called Letters to Juliet! 😀

A few of you sent us the link to Dear Data this week — an intriguing project mixing information visualization with postcards and mail. We loved reading about it and thought we should share it with everyone!

Giorgia and Stefanie have a few things in common: they’re the same age, only children, love drawing and are both information designers. They live across the ocean from each other, but decided to embark on an adventure together: to send each other weekly postcards, depicting their weeks as data graphics!

Each week has a loose theme, which they turn into an infographic. For example: counting the number of times they check themselves on a mirror, how much complaining they did or how often they picked up their phone… When the postcard is done, they mail it to each other!

Each card is unique and mysterious, urging you to check the legend on the back before having a second, closer look at the front image.

The result is really fascinating, an analytical yet intimate glimpse into Giorgia and Stefanie’s lives and the way they see and measure their world.

Right now there are 10 weeks of postcards posted on the website, and we’re already eagerly anticipating the next ones! What do you think they should measure next? And how would your week look like, if you gave it a try? :)