At the outset, Alcalá was agnostic about having a 19th-century design style. In 1995, to commemoratethe anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, April Greiman used a postmodern, computer-generated design approach that was very effective. Alcalá's inclination was to follow that example and "search for a more contemporary take on the subject." In response, Anderson produced colorful, celebratory prototype designs that Alcalá calls "very positive in spirit." Some employed modern typography, and a few reflected the times of The Emancipation Proclamation. Complex visual metaphors and references to Lincoln submitted by Anderson were rejected in favor of two solutions Alcalá presented to the USPS's Citizens Design Advisory Committee: a contemporary illustrative approach and the woodtype broadside-inspired solution. "I would have been happy if either was approved," he says. The committee preferred the broadside.

For this iteration Anderson chose to quote the actual language of the Proclamation—"HENCEFORWARD SHALL BE FREE"—because, she said, "it just felt right," adding that she hoped it was not "too obvious a solution." Next she pieced the words together using actual wood type samples from her scrap files, but was unsure how to achieve more verisimilitude in the final result. The original was digitally constructed and would have been a strong "product." But Alcalá thought the artwork deserved to be prepared in a manner that reflected the content.

"I only dreamt about creating a more authentic letterpress final product," Anderson said. So when Alcalá suggested approaching Jim Sherraden, proprietor of Hatch Prints, a famous Nashville poster printer that was founded in the late 19th century and known for its original wood type printing for books, records, and much more, Anderson "was completely on board." Happily she made a pilgrimage to Nashville carrying a large top-secret print of the stamp design to use as a template. "Jim let us loose in the shop to set the type ourselves while the rest of his crew cranked on other projects (they were sworn to secrecy)," Anderson said. "He checked in and made the occasional suggestion about every half hour, and made us feel completely at home." After pulling a variety of test prints for Alcalá to bring back to Washington, they played around with louder, more playful versions of the initial design just to see what would happen using big stars, gradients, and suns in the backgrounds.

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Committee approval of any kind is often a designer's nightmare, but this sailed through easily. "I gave a mini-lecture about why this design was appropriate to the topic," Alcalá said, "and finished by pulling out the broadside proof. Everyone loved seeing the letterpress printing and the design got unanimous approval."