New Dutch Design - Taste the Atmosphere

On 8 May 2026, PostNL is issuing the stamps New Dutch Design Taste the Atmosphere, the 2nd stamp sheet this year in the New Dutch Design series. The series showcases work by the next generation of Dutch graphic designers. The design of these stamp sheets was created during the 2024–2025 academic year by 2nd‑year Graphic Design students at ArtEZ in Zwolle, in collaboration with Nicole Uniquole. The stamps carry the denomination 1 for items up to 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands.

The New Dutch Design series is again dedicated this year to the theme of “celebration”, expressed through colour and form. Each class of 2nd‑year students is given full freedom to interpret the theme. For the 2025 stamps, the students explored the idea of “rituals”. For 2026, the new group of students chose the prompt “make it colourful”. With 4 different stamp designs, they invite us as they describe it to pause, to let go, to remember and above all to celebrate life.

The 2nd issue on 8 May is a sheet of 6 special stamps in 2 different designs titled Taste the Atmosphere. Earlier this year, on 16 February, the sheet New Dutch Design Returning Memories was issued. Later in 2026 the series will continue with Glow of the Moment (10 August) and Echo of the Celebration (28 September). The stamps all have the denomination 1 for items up to 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The retail price for a sheet of 6 stamps is €8.40.

DESIGN
The New Dutch Design Taste the Atmosphere stamp sheet is dominated by a large full‑bleed graphic illustration. The image consists of numerous geometric shapes circles, rectangles, diamonds, polygons and shapes with slanted edges. Each shape has its own colour, ranging from orange and red‑orange to yellow, light and dark green and various shades of blue. These colours are selected from the fixed palette of the New Dutch Design series, with additional shades created by placing a filter along the left and right sides of the sheet.

The pattern on the stamps continues across the perforations onto the sheet border. On the stamps themselves, the shapes are arranged in 2 different designs that symbolise the snacks and small dishes on a sharing platter.

DESIGN PROCESS
The designs of the 4 issues in the 2026 New Dutch Design series were created during the 2024–2025 academic year by 2nd‑year Graphic Design students at ArtEZ in Zwolle. All 21 students in this class contributed intensively to the concepts and designs for the stamp series. On behalf of PostNL, curator Nicole Uniquole guided the students through the design process, including inspirational sessions at the start and a visit to the National Archives. There, the design process of almost all Dutch stamps is documented.

The main goal of the educational project was for the stamp sheets to form a coherent whole, while still giving students the freedom to develop their creativity. The project fits ArtEZ’s policy of working with external partners and allowing students space to experiment. At ArtEZ, the students were guided by Marijke Meester and Anje Jager, respectively head and lecturer of Graphic Design. The students collaborated as one large design studio to explore all aspects of the profession: briefings, brainstorming, concept development, presenting to the client, colour choices, typeface selection, combinations of text and visual elements and the development of accompanying materials. In the first phase they worked in groups to develop concepts and present sketches to PostNL and Nicole Uniquole. The selected concepts were then developed into provisional and later final designs by newly formed student teams. At the same time, other students worked on typography, the colour palette, texts and the design of the accompanying storage folder.

TYPOGRAPHY
Two typefaces were used for the text. The first is Vier, designed in 2025 by ArtEZ student Maureen Ketting for the first series of New Dutch Design stamps. The second is Prophet, a sans‑serif typeface from 2016 by Johannes Breyer, Fabian Harb and Erkin Karamemet of Dinamo Typefaces in Berlin.

NICOLE UNIQUOLE ABOUT THE PROJECT
The design of the New Dutch Design Taste the Atmosphere stamp sheet was created by 2nd‑year Graphic Design students at ArtEZ in Zwolle, in collaboration with Nicole Uniquole. Nicole particularly values the opportunity to guide the next generation of graphic designers on a real assignment. “No exercise on paper, but a PostNL stamp that will soon be in the shops. I love introducing students straight into real design practice with real deadlines, real decisions, real impact. You’re not only a guest lecturer, but also the client for this project. This becomes both their portfolio and their practical experience in one: an official stamp on their CV with which the Netherlands will actually send mail. Education and practice merge here. You see the new generation of designers grow the moment their concepts move towards production. Being able to offer them that together with PostNL feels fantastic.”

DESIGNERS
The New Dutch Design series in 2026 brings the theme of “celebration” and the subtheme “make it colourful” to life in vibrant and diverse forms. The stamp sheets feature exuberant patterns and expressive elements inspired by moments of nostalgia, togetherness, light and longing. The 2nd issue this year is the sheet New Dutch Design Taste the Atmosphere, with festive togetherness as its central theme.

At the fair
Nicole Maas and Yael Veeningen explain on behalf of their fellow students how the design for New Dutch Design Taste the Atmosphere came about.

“In our group we developed various ideas conceptually,” says Yael Veeningen. “For the idea ‘glow of the moment’, we went to the fair to photograph the lights that we could incorporate into a design. At the same time, for another idea called ‘moments of indulgence’, we looked at the kinds of food you find at the fair from churros to popcorn, sweets and fast food. Food is always inseparable from celebrations in every culture.”

Sharing platter as alternative
Using the food photos as a starting point, the students brainstormed about translating this into a concept for Taste the Atmosphere. “That turned out to be more difficult than expected,” says Yael. “There were objections to some photos some foods weren’t very healthy, too much sugar or fat. But the photos themselves were also less suitable as the basis for a stamp design. Then the idea of a sharing platter came up as an alternative, because it would emphasise the festive element better. Everyone knows the concept and everyone associates it with celebrations. The choice of the sharing platter coincided with the decision not to use photography in the series, but instead to work with illustrative patterns. Thanks to all the different shapes on a sharing platter, it’s a perfect basis for a pattern.”

The stamp as platter
The final design of New Dutch Design Taste the Atmosphere was completed by Nicole Maas. “The sharing platter radiates cosiness. There is always something everyone likes cheese, grapes, olives, crackers, dips, cucumber, celery, that sort of thing. As a designer, the variety of shapes and colours gives you so much to work with. We began by breaking down the sharing platter and then used those extracted shapes to create patterns. On the sheet you can see circles representing cheese or bowls, oval shapes for grapes or olives and rectangles for crackers. The colours also correspond to what’s on a platter: yellow for cheese, light and dark green for celery or cucumber, purple for figs and orange for carrots. The platter itself is no longer visible it has disappeared under all the shapes and colours. Or perhaps you could see the stamp itself as the platter that holds everything.”

Playful and diverse
While developing the concept, the 2 designs for the Taste the Atmosphere stamps were created first, followed by the design for the sheet border. “On the stamps, the shapes flow into one another,” Nicole explains. “We wanted a playful and diverse image. The pattern was then extended to the sheet border. That sounds simple, but determining the right composition and colours was challenging. We shifted things around a lot until everything fell into place. After that we made a few more variations, but we kept coming back to the first composition. That was special.”

Full glory
The aim was for the sharing platter to be suitable for festivities where everyone is welcome. Nicole explains: “There’s something for everyone and plenty of it. I’m vegetarian, so I see the orange slices as carrot. If someone else sees slices of sausage, that’s fine too. Instead of a literal translation, we chose to visualise togetherness and cosiness in an abstract design. The different colours and shapes represent the mix of flavours and textures. To add more depth, a filter was placed over the central perforation. That created subtle colour differences, giving the image the layered character of a real sharing platter. Everything is still there it’s a platter in perfect condition, at the start of the celebration. No one has touched it yet.”

Direct link
The title of the issue changed several times, Yael Veeningen explains. “The original title ‘Moments of Indulgence’ was too direct and too literal. It also didn’t match the titles of the other issues in the New Dutch Design series. After some experimenting, we arrived at ‘Taste the Atmosphere’, because it creates a direct link between food and celebration. Due to the abstract style, the sharing platter may not be immediately recognisable to everyone. But with all the colours and shapes, we were able to convey exactly the sense of togetherness we wanted to show.”

About the students
Nicole Maas (Delft, 2003) and Yael Veeningen (Swifterbant, 2006) worked with their fellow students on the stamp designs for New Dutch Design during the 2024–2025 academic year, in the 2nd year of their Graphic Design programme at ArtEZ in Zwolle.

About Nicole Uniquole
Nicole Uniquole (Amersfoort, 1968) develops striking exhibitions at historic locations, combining contemporary design with 17th‑century art. She is known for exhibitions such as Design & Dynastie, 250 Jahre Hofleben Oranien Nassau in Fulda (2022), Royal Showpieces at Paleis Het Loo (2014/2015) and Dutch Design Huis van Oranje at Paleis Oranienbaum (2012). She is also founder of Masterly The Dutch Pavilion, presented annually at Salone del Mobile in Milan.

In 2021, Uniquole won the Harper’s Bazaar public award for Woman of the Year for her dedication to the contemporary art sector. She is currently creative director at Paleis Soestdijk, where she has been involved in exhibitions such as Vrouwen van Soestdijk (2023–2024), Schitteren op Soestdijk (2024–2025) and De Smaak van Soestdijk (2025–2026).

About Marijke Meester
Marijke Meester (Purmerend, 1964) has been head of Graphic Design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Zwolle since 2017. In 1992 she founded Meester Ontwerpers, a design studio in Amsterdam specialising in strategy, communication and complex design challenges.

Meester studied teacher training (drawing and crafts) at HBO in Amsterdam and graphic design at the Utrecht University of the Arts (HKU), graduating with honours.

About Anje Jager
Anje Jager (Zuidlaren, 1977) trained as a teacher at Windesheim in Zwolle and then studied communication and graphic design at Academie Minerva in Groningen. After graduating, she worked at various design studios in Berlin. Since 2007 she has worked as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and art director with international clients.

She has taught at the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart, the Universität der Künste Berlin and Edinburgh College of Art. Since early 2023 she has been a Graphic Arts Teacher at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Zwolle.