A project running full steam ahead that takes twelve years to get to market?, with no taste-test requires? Do you remember what you were doing twelve years go? Did you live in the same place twelve years ago? While the end result is "nice", not many companies could afford an R&D effort of such elongated duration. When everyone else (but the government, apparently, in this case) develops a plan, real attention is given to schedules and customer markets.Sometimes, you really do need to be more lucky than good (and have a deep bank account) - and then the fruits of labor flourish. If you can work a project for twelve years without results, more power to you; however, smart planning leads to increasing efficiency and gives you better returns for your investment. I actually bought a book of them yesterday because I had something to mail... but this design didn't push me to be a collector or buy 1,000 of them. Wonder how many people have changed behavior because of the watermelon?
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/usps-stamp-design-summer-harvest/398657/
