GDC/BC was proud to bring Michael Osborne, of Michael Osborne Design, to speak at the Salazar Awards. We knew we were in for a treat when he stepped to the podium.

“I don’t apologize for anything.”

(pause)

“Sorry.”

That kicked off a presentation that covered a gamut of material, from his work in the liquor industry (wine, whiskey and liqueurs), down and dirty business advice, and his love of letterpress work. In between, he treated us to vignettes about “weird but real” street signs and photographs.

He also shared the story about his “project from heaven”, a series of love stamps that he designed for the US Postal Service. He got the request for his first love stamp a few days after 9/11, and the resulting design was released in August 2002. The US Postal Service sold 1.2 billion of them, and Michael Osborne still designs love stamps. Their primary market? People sending out wedding invitations.

While Michael’s design achievements are staggering, he’s most proud of his work with Joey’s Corner. Joey’s Corner provides design services to non-profit organizations that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it. Michael highlighted some of his work with Joey’s Corner, from AIDS education T-shirts in Malawi to murals in San Francisco.

It was a very touching end to a brilliant, honest presentation. It could have been a dog and pony show about all the great things he had designed. Instead, it was a distinctly personal, human look at one man’s contribution to the design world.