Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day stamps born out of lockdown In Finland, Valentine’s Day is the second most popular card season immediately after Christmas. This year, Valentine’s Day will be celebrated on Monday, February 14. Leena Kisonen was chosen as the illustrator for the new Valentine’s Day stamps. “All my works are characterized by Scandinavian design style, exceptional color combinations and playfulness. Posti wanted to have this spirit also in the stamp illustrations depicting moments of friendship, joy and sharing.” “Stamps are one of the smallest items I have ever illustrated. The small size brought its own challenges to the design work, which was fun.

A stamp must be interesting and at the same time simple and clear in order for it to work in small size,” Leena says. In her illustrations, Leena combines paper cutting and vector graphics. “I first cut the elements of my work from paper, then scan them and construct the final illustrations digitally on a computer. My work is therefore a combination of handiwork and digital techniques. I particularly like the organic look of paper cuttings.” The Valentine’s Day stamps were created in the middle of the long lockdown in London in spring 2021. “I moved to London in December 2020 and was still very new to the city when I was designing the stamps. Due to the lockdown, I couldn’t really leave my apartment, the weather was gray and I missed my friends in Finland. You could say that the colorful stamps were inspired by my colorful friends,” Leena says. Friendship Stories will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing five different domestic no-value indicator stamps.