The Booklet of Pooh arrived this morning, the date of issue. One thing that is now confirmed is that the font used on the booklet is not the same as is used on contemporary Christmas and Definitive booklets.
In the picture below, the top booklet shows the pre-October 2016 style. The "4 X" is thicker on the Pooh booklet but still has the closed '4" rather than the open "4" of the last two designs; the "1st" is almost identical.
This was replaced by the one with rounded lettering below, in October 2016.
The November 2025 Queen Victoria (1d black) booklet had the text in a new format again.
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| Queen Voctoria booklet November 2025. |
The definitive booklets with this font appeared gradually in spring of this year with an official distribution in March. This change was ignored when the Winnie The Pooh booklet was produced.
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| Christmas 2025 font. |
I presume that - given the examples of the past - the telephone numbers on the back of the Winnie-the-Pooh booklet also feature closed 4s, since these seem to follow the example on the front.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that the designers are just making it up as they go along, rather than having any standardised 'house style' to work from. Not that I believe this to be the case, but a cynic might wonder if Royal Mail is being offered successive free (or reduced-price) trials of 'ever so slightly different' commercial fonts, only then to move on to another before having to pay through the nose to continue with the previous selection.
As with the other 'non-retail' booklets the only thing on the back is the FSC notice and the copyright information.
DeleteThere's no barcode - because there is no need - and no postcode or other detail for the same reason. The QV booklet was an extreme version with nothing on the back!
Oops! I should have known that!
DeleteBut thanks for the reply, anyway. (It is one thing less for me to wonder about.)