As most countries postal services do, the British Royal Mail regularly issue special design stamps. Just announced (and detailed on the Norvic Philatelics website) is the first of their special sets for 2010. "The Design Classics: Classic Album Covers" will appear on January 7th, and includes Pink Floyd's Division Bell amongst the ten sleeves chosen.

Many of the most significant graphic designers of the last 40 years are represented by this selection of iconic covers. Taking a starting point of surveys and polls of favourite album covers, editors of three major UK music publications together with a number of graphic designers and design writers came up with a short list. That list was further pruned as some images proved unsuitable for use.

The stamp will be available individually, and in the form of collections of all the stamps. There will also be a "First Day Cover" for the edition, too.

The full list of albums included are as follows:

• The Division Bell – Pink Floyd;
• A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay;
• Parklife – Blur;
• Power Corruption and Lies – New Order;
• Let It Bleed – The Rolling Stones
• London Calling – The Clash;
• Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield;
• IV – Led Zeppelin;
• Screamadelica – Primal Scream;
• The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – David Bowie

In terms of presentation of the set, the Royal Mail are doing a pseudo cover for a "Best Of" that includes all the stamps, which are perforated. They are also doing a "Souvenir Sheet" of all ten stamps, looking like the shelves of a typical record collector:

More details, and more images, can be seen over at Norvic Philatelics and other stamp specialists.