The design for the $4.90 Priority Mail stamp by artist Dan Cosgrove features a birds-eye view of the Mackinac Bridge, surrounded by soaring seagulls. The Mackinac Bridge is the subject of a new $4.90 Priority Mail stamp to be released by the U.S. Post Office alongside several other stamp designs February 3.

Dan Cosgrove, an illustrator and designer from Clarenden Hills, Illinois, created the art featured on the stamp, which shows a view of the Mackinac Bridge from a high angle above one of the towers and shows seagulls swooping around the structure.

Mr. Cosgrove looked at a number of photographs of the bridge before sketching the final design, and said he had difficulty making the lengthy structure fit on a tiny, square postage stamp. Eventually, he decided to create his own angle not shown in any photograph, where the bridge "follows the curve of the earth" and disappears into the distance.

A graphic designer for the post office for about five years, Mr. Cosgrove said he has never driven across the bridge, although he did visit Mackinac Island with his wife, Lisa , years ago.

"I've been to Michigan a number of times, but that's the only time I've really been up that far," he said. "It is just beautiful up there."

Starting with rough sketches, Mr. Cosgrove, a 20-year veteran designer, converses with artistic consultants and postal representatives before creating the final design in digital format.

"It was a lot of fun to work on," he said of the stamp. "I really enjoyed doing it and I hope everyone enjoys it, too."

In 2005, a local grassroots committee asked the postal service to issue a postage stamp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Mackinac Bridge in 2007, but the post office stamp review board denied that appeal, saying the bridge was not nationally significant.

This will be the second time the Mackinac Bridge has been featured on a U.S. stamp. The bridge was first commemorated on a 3¢ stamp in June 1958, during its official dedication. That stamp depicted the bridge from water level with a freighter passing underneath and the inscription, "The Mackinac Bridge, Connecting The Peninsulas of Michigan."

The new stamp will be active as long as the priority mail stamp price does not change, according to the post office.