Day of the Stamp 2022
This year, PostNL took the De Ruyter stamps from 1907 as the subject of the issue of the Day of the Postage Stamp. At the time, these stamps were issued in honor of the 300th birthday of Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter, the most famous admiral in Dutch naval history.
The reception of the De Ruyter stamps in 1907 was not entirely positive. In the philatelic magazines, but also in the general press, there was strong criticism of the design and execution. Graphic designer Sandra Smulders used the negative reviews as a ‘bracket’ for her new stamp design for the Day of the Postage 2022.
Coherence
One of the points of criticism was the ‘messy’ design of 1907. In order to give the stamps of the Stamp Day 2022 the desired coherence, Smulders developed a design concept with graphic lines like waves of a wild sea at the bottom of all stamps. On the portrait stamp De Ruyter rises from the waves, on the naval battle stamp they form the foreground for the battle between the warships.
Blue and brick red
As with previous issues in the context of the Stamp Day, rotation and mirror effects have been used in the new design. This year, however, there will be 4-colour printing for the first time. For the new stamps, Smulders chose the colors in which the historic De Ruyter stamps appeared. āWith the emphasis on blue and brick redā, says Smulders. āThe red-violet is also returning, but only very modestly in the country name of the Netherlands.ā
Engraving and print
The portrait of De Ruyter is a reproduction of an engraving by Hendrik Bary van De Ruyter. For the image of the naval battle, Smulders chose a print of the Four Days’ Battle from 1666 between the Dutch and English fleets. De Ruyter won that battle.
Typography
The Masqualero Pro Stencil Regular from 2017, designed by Jim Ford, was used for the typography of the texts. The country designation Netherlands is set in the P22 Allyson Pro from 2009, designed by Paul D. Hunt.