MORE ON DESIGNING THE MAYA ANGELOU QUARTER

 

Maya Angelou's and the other upcoming quarters were authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, and Damstra notes that they all came with a few requirements. Most notably, the reverse side (tails) couldn't feature the quintessential head and shoulder portrait or bust. So Damstra opted for a figure of Angelou instead of a close-up. And since the quarter is so small, she kept the number of details to a minimum. A career in natural science illustration has indulged my tendency to include a lot of detail in my drawings, she says. Negative space becomes very important for providing balance.

Detail ratios are important because once the illustration is complete, it has to be sculpted into a three-dimensional object. For example, Damstra says she steered clear of fine lines and transparent objects because they're difficult to translate into 3D shapes.

Once designed, the Maya Angelou quarter was sculpted by the Mint's medallic artist, Craig A. Campbell, who also sculpted Nina Otero-Warren's quarter, to be released later this year. Campbell started by sculpting an initial model out of clay and plaster, then used digital software to polish the final design.

Campbell explains that sculptors have to follow the designer's illustration, but there is always a level of creativity in every stage of the process, he says. For example, the Otero-Warren quarter features the New Mexico suffragist in a sitting position, her hands crossed near a trifecta of flowers. The words Voto para la mujer (translation: vote for women) appear to the right of her face.

Campbell's first task was to single out every design element and figure out the hierarchy between them. You decide what element is the closest to you then work your way backward, he says. In Otero-Warren's case, the flowers were most prominent, followed by her hands, body, and the letters. (With Maya Angelou's quarter, he says, her body came first, then the bird and the sun's rays.)

Once the sculpture is complete, the Mint uses the digital model to carve the design into a stamp called a die, which ends up striking the quarters at a rate of 720 coins per minute. The Angelou quarter was minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. With 65 presses, the Philadelphia Mint produces 46,800 coins per minute, making these among the most intricately designed, mass-produced objects in design history.

To read the complete article, see:
The fascinating design story behind the new Maya Angelou quarters (https://www.fastcompany.com/90715936/the-fascinating-design-story-behind-the-new-maya-angelou-quarters)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DAMSTRA ON DESIGNING MAYA ANGELOU QUARTER (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n04a22.html)

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