Collection of Australia Post mail bag designs
Our collection now features a set of cards by Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, bearing Australia Post mail bag designs.
![A green background with the 2018 Australia Post logo printed on it.](https://www.library.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/image_media/public/images/2024-09/collection-photo-australia-post-mail-bag-design-farrawell-nla-obj-3381748997.jpg?itok=faN2oMyB)
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Mail Bag (Plastic - Light Green with metal ringlets at top), Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381748997
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Mail Bag (Plastic - Light Green with metal ringlets at top), Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381748997
![The front and back of a green card. The front reads 'P.M.G. Sydney Australia Registered'. The back reads 'Spike 35 Years 2021'.](https://www.library.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/image_media/public/images/2024-09/collection-photo-australia-post-mail-bag-design-farrawell-nla-obj-3381747530.jpg?itok=I6e2GVHg)
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Registered Mail Bag (Canvas - Green) Sydney, Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381747530
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Registered Mail Bag (Canvas - Green) Sydney, Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381747530
Spike Farrawell is a Canberra based artist specialising in printmaking and bookbinding, who also worked for Australia Post for 35 years. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, he celebrated his long career with Australia Post by hand carving and printing past mailbag designs onto cards.
![The front and back of a blue card. The front reads 'Australia Post 06.11 No.3 Theft or misuse of this bag is a criminal offence penalties apply'. The back reads 'Spike 35 years 2021'.](https://www.library.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/image_media/public/images/2024-09/collection-photo-australia-post-mail-bag-design-farrawell-nla-obj-3381748042.jpg?itok=3BXsbd9W)
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Number 3 Bag - 06.11 (Nylon - Dark Blue with metal ringlets at the top, Extra Large for Large Airmail Parcels, Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381748042
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Number 3 Bag - 06.11 (Nylon - Dark Blue with metal ringlets at the top, Extra Large for Large Airmail Parcels, Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381748042
The designs were used on Australia Post mailbags from 1986 until 2022. Most of these bags are no longer in use, which inspired Farrawell to record the designs before they were forgotten. It took 2 years to track down the 41 designs, carve and hand print the cards, which are housed in a hand printed box. Farrawell made 20 boxes or sets of the cards, and gifted a number of them to his postal colleagues as an acknowledgement of how hard they had worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.
![The front and back of a yellow card. The front reads Express Post 04.17 No.15 Theft or misuse of this bag is a criminal offence penalties apply'. The back reads 'Spike 35 years 2021'.](https://www.library.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/image_media/public/images/2024-09/collection-photo-australia-post-mail-bag-design-farrawell-nla-obj-nla.obj-3381748673.jpg?itok=gBip_Tp8)
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Number 15 Bag - 4.17 (Nylon - Gold Yellow) Express Post (Updated Design), Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381748673
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Number 15 Bag - 4.17 (Nylon - Gold Yellow) Express Post (Updated Design), Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381748673
The original Australia Post logo was developed in 1975 by Pieter Huveneers (1925–2017), an influential corporate designer who lived and worked in the Netherlands, the UK and finally Australia. Huveneers designed an icon featuring a post horn (traditionally used by European postmen to announce post riders or mail coaches) with a 'P' in the negative space.
![The front and back of a white card. The front reads 'Australia Post EMS 09.19'. The back reads 'Spike 35 years 2021'.](https://www.library.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/image_media/public/images/2024-09/collection-photo-australia-post-mail-bag-design-farrawell-nla-obj-3381749198.jpg?itok=EGWLjeSd)
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, (No Number) - 09.17 (Plastic - almost clear with Blue and Orange Logo) EMS Mail, Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381749198
Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, (No Number) - 09.17 (Plastic - almost clear with Blue and Orange Logo) EMS Mail, Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381749198
These unique hand printed cards capture a vital part of Australian postal and design history.
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