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Two Dutch postage stamps featuring ice skaters. The first is valued at “70 ct” and the second at “80 ct”, both bearing the text “Elfstedentocht”.

Graphic Design: Here's one for your stamp collection from the Dutch Postal Service

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Date
18 June 2013

In an enormous new digital catalogue by the Memory of the Netherlands, 150 years worth of graphic design for the Dutch Post Office Board is now on display. Designs for stamps, the stamps themselves and posters created by a huge number of designers to suit the high-profile design policy of the postal service are all included, and they make for a fascinating timeline of graphic design. From the commonplace to the obscure, you’ll find some stunning typography and illustration at your very fingertips. Design geeks, go wild!

A postage stamp featuring bold, gold-coloured typography on a white background. The text reads “mijn rechten” in a stylised font, with “Nederland 45c” printed vertically along the right edge.
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Dutch Postal Service: Hans Koetsier

A black and white image shows one hand passing a small model house to another. Below the hands, text reads “1919 internationale arbeids organisatie 1969” and “nederland 25 c”.
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Dutch Postal Service: Jurriaan Willem Schrofer

A graphic illustration of a Dutch landscape with three windmills under a pale purple sky. In the foreground, four cows graze on a green field next to the text “6c” and “NEDERLAND”.
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Dutch Postal Service: Reindert Juurt [Rein] Draijer

A collage designed as a postcard. A hand slides a newspaper into a narrow mail slot, with the headline “6 Miljoenste woning in Nederland opgeleverd”. The card features a stamp in the top right corner and the words “ADRESWIJZIGING” and “CHANGEMENT D’ADRESSE” in the top left.
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Dutch Postal Service: Arno Geels and Joh. Enschedé en Zonen

An illustration of a postage stamp featuring two children riding a red and yellow spotted dragon. The stamp reads “NEDERLAND 2000” and “80+ 40ct”.
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Dutch Postal Service: Sieb Posthuma

A postcard featuring a decorative left border of colourful geometric patterns, trucks and suitcases. The border includes the word “ADRESWIJZIGING” in orange. A purple postage stamp in the top right reads “€ 0.39” and “NEDERLAND 2002”.
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Dutch Postal Service: Mieke Gerritzen

A graphic postage stamp design featuring abstract shapes and figures in blue, green and orange. The word “NEDERLAND” is written across the centre in large, grey capital letters.
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Dutch Postal Service: Julius Vermeulen and Carolien Schuuring

A red and white postage stamp design featuring bold, chunky typography. It reads “Nederland 2007”, “44”, “Plus” and “22 Euro Cent”, with a small Red Cross logo and the text “Het Nederlandse Rode Kruis”.
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Dutch Postal Service: Bureau TEFF

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

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Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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