[from PostNL press materials] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Typically Dutch — Dogs

Date of issue: 12 February 2024
Appearance: sheet of six stamps in six identical designs
Item number: 440262
Design: Adam Lane, Edwin van Praet and Huub van Veenhuijzen from Total Design, Amsterdam

This issue is the second in the Typically Dutch series this year. The multi-year series was launched in 2020, and in 2024 focuses on the Netherlands’ most popular and familiar animals.

The six identical postage stamps will be marked ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items weighing up to 20g destined for the Netherlands. A sheet of six stamps costs €6.54.

Typically Dutch – Dogs was designed by Senior Graphic Designer Adam Lane, Executive Creative Director Edwin van Praet and Concept Director Huub van Veenhuijzen from Total Design in Amsterdam. The design was created using artificial intelligence and features figurines in the shape of Delftware pottery.

The first 2024 issue in the Typically Dutch series is about cows and was published on 2 January. Stamp sheets featuring horses (25 March), songbirds (13 May) and cats (12 August) will follow later this year.

Dogs: The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a mammal that belongs to the canine family and a domesticated subspecies of the wolf. For many years now, man has used the dog as a guard dogs, companions, shepherd dogs, draught animals, police dogs, assistance dogs and hunting dogs. The Dutch love dogs. The precise number of dogs in the Netherlands is unknown, but estimates suggest around 1.9 million, which works out at one per four households on average.

Roughly one quarter of all dogs in the Netherlands are purebred. Their interests are safeguarded by the Dutch Kennel Club, which keeps the pedigree records. A small number of purebred dogs are typically Dutch, such as the Drentsche Patrijshond, the Stabyhoun, the Dutch Shepherd, the Kooikerhondje, the Markiesje, the Saarloos Wolfdog, the Schapendoes and the Frisian Water Dog.

Koninklijke Hondenbescherming (the Dutch Society for the Protection of Dogs) feels a responsibility towards all Dutch dogs. Since 2013, the society has championed the legal requirement to have all new dogs in the Netherlands chipped. Since 2021, breeders are also legally obliged to register their puppies and apply for an EU passport for them.

Delftware: The history of Delftware is closely linked to that of Chinese porcelain. Delft was one of the VOC’s trading posts, with warehouses where large stocks of this porcelain were stored. Delft potters developed a type of tin-glazed earthenware that could be compared to Chinese porcelain in terms of shape, shine and decoration. Delftware became very popular within a short space of time and experienced its heyday between 1650 and 1750, when there were around 100 pottery factories. Today, only a few factories are still producing Delftware in the traditional way. The traditional paintwork can be identified by the mark on the underside of each product.

Artificial intelligence: AI relates to learning computing systems that are capable of extrapolating large amounts of data and algorithms, making decisions and choices, and coming up with interpretations. The developments in artificial intelligence are coming thick and fast. It is used in numerous applications, from face recognition on smartphones and self-driving cars to smart thermostats and deep fakes – digitally manipulated images, sounds and texts. Within AI there is a separate discipline called generative art, which is when a computer algorithm creates an original work of art or design.

Design: Each stamp on the Typically Dutch – dogs stamp sheet features two dogs sitting next to each other on their hind legs. The portrait takes the form of a figurine made from shiny Delftware pottery. The image of the two dogs was created using the AI programme Midjourney, which produces images based on textual descriptions.

Typically Dutch – Dogs was designed by Total Design, an Amsterdam-based design agency which has been responsible for the Typically Dutch series since 2020. For the 2024 series, PostNL asked Total Design to elaborate on the Delftware theme by combining photography and illustration. Delftware did, in fact, end up on the stamps, albeit with a contemporary twist.

The designers “wanted to see whether we could go further than using images of vases, plates and figurines,” said designer Adam Lane. “We were looking to create a modern twist, and that’s when we came up with the concept of working with artificial intelligence. Our AI expertise gave us some ideas, but we wanted to explore properly how it would work.”

Around 25 designers participated in a brainstorming session. “In small teams, we used the AI programme MidJourney to combine typically Dutch subjects with different decoration styles. Delftware proved to work the best, as other Dutch decorative styles were simply too unfamiliar within AI,” said Lane. “The results were magnificent – dreamlike, often surreal images of a wide variety of subjects. From ice skates, cheeses and board games such as goose game to Dutch interiors and garments… you name it. By the end of the evening, the portrait of a dog suddenly cropped up. We decided that was an interesting option and we wanted to go in that direction. Why not produce a series on the animals that are close to the hearts of the Dutch people?”

Both designers grew up with dogs, but now live in Amsterdam where they have too little space to look after a dog of their own. “I do miss it,” says Van Veenhuijzen. “We occasionally borrow a dog.”

Then came the decision of which dogs to feature on the stamp. “We didn’t want to feature a small dog, as that wouldn’t have fit in well with the other animals in the series. So that’s why we didn’t go for any Instagram dogs sitting in handbags,” says Van Veenhuijzen. “We selected large, sturdy dogs with lots of characteristics of the Rhodesian Ridgeback.

“We also explored using typically Dutch purebred dogs. However, they are less well known and so they weren’t recognised by Midjourney. We deliberately chose strong, muscular guard dogs. Originally, people presumably started keeping dogs so that they would guard their properties. They protect us, they give us a sense of security and they’re incredibly loyal. All of that is reflected in how the two dogs are presented on the stamps. They’re looking straight at us, as if to say they have protected everything that is precious to us.”

Technical Details:
Postage stamp dimensions: 30 x 40mm
Sheet size: 170 x 122mm
Paper: normal with phosphor print
Glue: gummed
Printing technique: offset
Printing colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black
Print run: 75,000 sheets
Appearance: sheet of six stamps in identical designs
Design: Adam Lane, Edwin van Praet and Huub van Veenhuijzen from Total Design, Amsterdam
Printing company: Cartor Security Printers, Meaucé-La Loupe, France
Item number: 440262

Note: PostNL does not sell directly to collectors in North America. Its website refers to a company called Nordfirm, which says it sells Dutch new issues at face value. The Virtual Stamp Club has no connection to this company.