[press release]
Fokke & Sukke decorate the first personalized stamps with new framework

The Hague, 23 April 2018 – PostNL today introduces two new frameworks for the Personal Stamp. Fokke & Sukke decorate the first two completed sheets of Personal Postage Stamps with the new framework in honour of the 25th anniversary of the most famous duck and canary of our country.

Since 2003, PostNL has been offering customers the possibility to design Personal Stamps online with their own photo, drawing or other image within a fixed framework. The issue Fokke & Sukke are celebrating their 25th anniversary consists of two sheets of filled in Personal Postage Stamps with a new framework. The first sheet with ten stamps is for domestic mail, the second sheet with five stamps for international mail. On both stamp sheets, there are drawings of Fokke & Sukke taking a selfie.

New typography and more space
The new frameworks were designed by letter designer Martin Majoor from Arnhem. The new frameworks have a new typography and offer more space for the personal image. One new framework is intended for Personal Stamps with the value indication Netherlands 1, the other for Personal Stamps with the value indication International 1. Both frameworks are suitable for both portrait and landscape images.

Maximum effect
Major also designed a new sans serif letter for the Personal Stamps. “But with the thick-thin variations that you normally associate with serif letters” says Major. “That also fits in with my philosophy to achieve the maximum possible effect with as few elements as possible. As the famous letter designer, Eric Gill, once said about stamps: the more you use them, the simpler they must be.”

News jokes
The anniversary couple, Fokke & Sukke, are among the most popular cartoon characters in our country. The comic is thought up and created every day by John Reid, Bastiaan Geleijnse and Jean-Marc van Tol. Fokke & Sukke, who first appeared together in a cartoon in 1993, can now be found every day in NRC Next and NRC Handelsblad. In addition, the creators make an annual block calendar and an annual overview in news jokes.

Availability
The ten Personal Stamps Fokke & Sukke are celebrating their 25th anniversary with the value indication Netherlands 1 are meant for mail up to and including 20 grams and with a destination within the Netherlands. The five Personal Stamps Fokke & Sukke are celebrating their 25th anniversary with the value indication International 1 and the Priority logo are meant for items up to and including 20 grams with a foreign destination. The stamps are available from the post office in the Bruna stores from April 23 and via PostNL’s website. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from the customer service of Collect Club at telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.

[press release]
Dutch wildflowers take centre stage in the new ‘Experience nature’ stamps series

The Hague, 6 April 2018 – PostNL will be issuing the new ‘Experience nature’ stamp series this year. There will be a ten-stamp sheetlet for each season. Now that spring has arrived, typically Dutch wildflowers take centre stage. Marc van den Tweel, general director of Natuurmonumenten, the Society for the Preservation of Nature in the Netherlands, received the first sheetlet with the new stamps. The beauty of nature
With the new stamps, PostNL pays tribute to the diversity of nature in our country. “It’s much greater than we sometimes realise at first,” says Stephan van den Eijnden, PostNL’s commercial director for Mail. “That makes it even more important for us to work together to preserve the beauty of nature in the Netherlands.”

“Nature is coming in through your letterbox, spring is landing on your doormat. Beautiful stamps, showing how wonderful and rich our nature is. Let’s enjoy it and realise how breathtakingly beautiful our country is,” says Marc van den Tweel.

Thousands of photos
The photos on the stamps of the ‘Experience nature’ series are colourful portraits of often extraordinary plants and animals in their natural habitats. The images run almost imperceptibly through onto the adjacent stamps. After the winter series with reptiles and amphibians and the wildflowers in spring, special stamps featuring insects and mushrooms will follow in summer and fall later this year.

Graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda selected about one thousand photographs for each of the four stamp sheetlets. He narrowed these down to a shortlist consisting of around a hundred images, from which he chose the ten photographs that made it onto each stamp sheetlet. He was guided by both the beauty of the photograph and the special characteristics of the depicted plants and animals. The photographs are the work of amateur photographers who send their best images to the PIXFACTORY websites.

Availability
Every ‘Experience nature’ stamp sheetlet features ten different stamps marked with ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for delivery in the Netherlands. The stamps are available from 9 April 2018 at the post office counter in Bruna stores and online at postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels [in Dutch]. The stamps can also be ordered from the Collect Club customer service by calling +31 (0)88 – 868 99 00. The stamps are valid until further notice.

[PostNL press release]
Stamps depicting the modesty of Dutch bridgesThe Hague, 26 March 2018 – This year, two typically Dutch bridges in Dedemsvaart and Edam are the central features of PostNL’s postage stamp entries in the European design competition ‘EUROPA Stamp Best Design Competition’. This annual competition between European postal operators always has a common theme. For 2018, the theme is bridges.

The stamps depict an iron swing bridge in Dedemsvaart and a wooden drawbridge in Edam. The stamp sheetlet has been designed by the graphic designer Karen Polder from The Hague.

Swing bridge vs. drawbridge
The wrought iron swing bridge in Dedemsvaart has a wooden bridge deck and is supported by ashlar stone abutments and a pillar. The bridge is a rare example of a nineteenth century swing bridge over the Dedemsvaart canal. The second bridge, the Kwakelbrug in Edam, is a narrow wooden drawbridge originating from the eighteenth century. The bridge is located at the end of the Scheepmakersdijk and connects to the Boerenverdriet. ‘Since the Netherlands has a vast amount of water, we also have a vast amount of bridges,’ says Stephan van de Eijnden, marketing director for Mail at PostNL. ‘What stands out for me is how typically Dutch these bridges are.’ Simple and plain, but often ingenious constructions to facilitate transport over water and land. The two bridges on these stamps are prime examples of this.’

Slender constructions
The design of the stamps is based on photos taken by Karen Polder herself when she visited the bridges. When editing the photographs, she made the background thin and transparent and the bridges black and white. ‘Both bridges have a very linear, constructive character,’ says Polder. ‘They’re not enormous bridges – they have slender, modest constructions. The locations of the two bridges differ drastically. The location in Edam is busy and colourful, whereas tranquility and nature predominate in Dedemsvaart. This distinction is reflected in the colour blocks used for the diffuse background.

Availability
The ‘Dutch bridges’ stamp sheetlet features six different stamps in two designs marked with ‘Internationaal 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for delivery outside of the Netherlands. The stamps are available from 26 March onwards at the post office counter in Bruna stores and online at postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels. The validity period is indefinite.

[press release]
Experience nature in four seasons with colourful stamps from PostNL

The Hague, 2 January 2018 – PostNL will be issuing the new ‘Experience nature’ stamp series this year. There will be a ten-stamp sheetlet for each season. On 2 January 2018, the first stamps for winter appeared, devoted to reptiles and amphibians. The other seasons will follow in April, June and September, featuring wildflowers, insects and mushrooms respectively.

The photographs on the stamps are colourful portraits of often extraordinary plants and animals in their natural habitats. The images run almost imperceptibly through onto the adjacent stamps. They are also connected with each other through overlapping circles of different sizes. This provides a natural sense of contact between the plants and animals.

The beauty of nature
With the new stamps, PostNL pays tribute to the diversity of nature in our country. “It’s much greater than we sometimes realise at first,” says Stephan van den Eijnden, PostNL’s Commercial Director for Mail. “That makes it even more important for us to work together to maintain the beauty of nature in the Netherlands.”

Thousands of photos
For the ‘Experience nature’ series, graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda selected thousands of photographs for each of the four stamp sheetlets. He narrowed these down to a shortlist consisting of around a hundred images, from which he chose the ten photographs that made it onto each stamp sheetlet. He was guided by both the beauty of the photograph and the special characteristics of the depicted plants and animals. The photographs are the work of amateur photographers who send their best images to the PIXFACTORY websites.

Availability
Each of the ‘Experience nature’ stamp sheetlets consists of ten stamps marked with ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for mail in the Netherlands. The stamps are available at all post offices as well as via Collectclub.nl. The stamps are valid until further notice.