Netherlands – On 17 July 2017, PostNL will issue the Life in the North Sea stamp sheetlet, with illustrations of plants and animals that live in the North Sea region. The illustrations were made by four scientific illustrators from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. The stamps are marked ‘Nederland 1’ and are intended for domestic mail items up to 20g.

With the Life in the North Sea stamp sheetlet, PostNL is highlighting the work of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. Naturalis merged with the Zoological Museum Amsterdam, the National Herbarium of the Netherlands and the National Museum of Natural History (Naturalis) to form a world-class institute. Naturalis now curates over 42 million natural history items. This collection is still expanding and is digitally accessible to scientists all over the world. The collection thus presents a rich source for research, to form an increasingly better description, understanding and explanation of life on earth and in water. This knowledge contributes to a healthier living environment and provides important insights in social issues such as climate, food and medicine. In the museum, Naturalis shares its fascination by and knowledge of nature with a wider audience. The educational programmes in and outside the museum are a source of inspiration to countless curious children.

The ten stamps on the Life in the North Sea stamp sheetlet show drawings of five inhabitants of the North Sea Region: a northern gannet in the air, a tub gurnard in the sea, a brown crab in the surf, bladder wrack and seaweed along the tide and Baltic clams, cut through shells and the egg case of a spotted ray on the beach. The individual illustrations are set against a background image of the North Sea, covering the entire sheetlet. All illustrations are contained within the perforations of the stamps; only the red bladder wrack continues on the tab next to the left stamp. The Dutch and Latin names of each species are listed next to each stamp on the tabs on both sides. The names of the scientific illustrators who made the illustrations are also listed. The top of the stamp sheetlet features the name of the issue, and at the bottom are the logos of Naturalis and PostNL with the technical details. The font used for the typography is Quicksand from 2008/2016 by Andrew Paglinawan. The Quicksand is a rounded, sanserif font with influences from geometric sanserif fonts from the 1920s and 1930s. The value denomination 1 is also derived from this font. Designer Ingmar Birza made a contour line around the 1 for that with the same thickness as the value indicator and the word ‘Nederland’.

Issue Date: 17.07.2017
Designer: Ingmar Birza
Printer: Joh. Enschedé Security Print, Haarlem
Process: Offset
Size: Stamp: 36 x 25mm, Sheet: 108 x 150mm