Be it that next letter from mom or bill of damages from Joske’s, the chances are good that when you reach in your mailbox this month, you’ll pull out a piece of Don Adair’s art. Adair, a Dallas commercial illustrator, was the man chosen by the U.S. Pastal Service to design its newly issued twenty-two-cent Texas Sesquicentennial stamp.
Last summer the thirty-seven-year-old Adair was one often illustrators nationwide invited by the postal service to submit design ideas for the Sesquicentennial stamp. His identical twin brother, Ron, with whom he shares a modest apartment-office near Coit and Spring Valley, has already designed and illustrated five stamps for the postal service, including commemorative portrait stamps of Senator Everett Dirksen and John Hanson, a “president” of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation. Don’s Sesquicentennial stamp is an illustration of a spur, resting on the red, white, and blue background of the Texas flag. Ron also competed to design the Sesquicentennial stamp.
“It is really quite an honor to participate in something like this,” says Don. ’The whole thing was somewhat of a long shot. But Ron and I feel we’re good illustrators and designers.” In addition to the flattery and bit of Texas pride, Adair was paid $1,500 for designing the Sesquicentennial stamp, which was officially released in a ceremony in San Antonio last month.
Don and his brother have worked together as freelance illustrators in Dallas since 1975. Don admits his brother helped put the finishing touches on the stamp after the postal service made its decision to go with his rough design last November. “Our styles differ, but we can work together and duplicate each other’s styles when we need to,” says Don.
Don says he originally designed the stamp with a generic spur, but the postal service insisted that it be a replica of the spur General Santa Anna gave to Sam Houston after the battle of San Jacinto. After a search by the Dallas Historical Society, Don says, the photo of the actual spur looked much like the one illustrated on his original design.
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