Royal PTT Nederlands on which he included a picture of himself in a comic
pose. Vermullen was commissioned to design a stamp that somehow
represented the users of such cards. After conducting research, he determined
that ninety-five percent of preprinted postcards were used by sweepstakes
players and contestants to enter quizzes and games. He therefore decided to
show a quiz master (Mr. Vermullen himself ) standing over a TV screen that
projects the seventy-cent value of the stamp in large numerals. The seven is
decked out like a crossword puzzle, while the zero is a dart board,
representing a game of chance. The quiz master holds up two prizes: in one
hand money and the other hand flowers. The image is printed outside of the
formal stamp area, giving it the appearance of a coupon.
The Royal PTT Nederlands is one of the most progressive
postal agencies. Back in the early 1930 s its visionary director, Jean François
Van Royen, commissioned avant-garde designers Piet Zwart and Paul
Schuitema to create advertisements and stamps that transcended
convention by employing their distinctive use of typofoto (collage and New
Typography). Under Paul Hefting, art director of the art and design
department, the PTT continues to push the limits of the postage stamp
tradition in terms of marketing, management, and design. Since the PTT
was privatized less than a decade ago, emphasis has been placed on
increasing the amount of stamp sales by creating designs that people are
compelled to buy for utilitarian and aesthetic reasons.
In addition to the conventional postage stamps, PTT encourages
designers to take unique approaches to commemorative, cautionary, and
information stamps. They lead the way in commissioning internationally
known graphic artists to extend the boundaries. French designer and
former principal of Grapus design collective Pierre Bernard designed a
series of Red Cross stamps; British designer Neville Brody designed stamps
for a national flower exhibition; Belgian cartoonist Ever Mullen designed a
series of child welfare stamps; and American Robert Nakata of Studio
Dumbar in Den Haag designed stamps commemorating 150 years of travel
on the Dutch railways. Nakata’s design is indicative of the creative license
afforded by the PTT. To suggest the idea of travel, Nakata used the famous
Kissby Rodin to signify both arrival or farewell. To ground this metaphor
behind the sculpture the roof of a railway station platform is visible.
To stimulate sales to collectors and users stamps must elicit
intellectual or emotional responses. That distinctive stamps are designed
annually indicates that the world’s postal services understand that the
public has tastes that can be served by stamps. That many of these are
designed by inventive graphic designers proves that this art for the masses
is by no means crass.
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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