LEGO - Child Welfare Stamps

On 9 October 2023, PostNL will issue a new sheet of Child Welfare Stamps marked with the denomination ‘1’ for destinations within the Netherlands. The design of this year’s five stamps revolves around LEGO toys. Since 1924, PostNL has been issuing Child Welfare Stamps to raise money for projects aimed at improving the welfare of vulnerable children. To this end, a €0.50 surcharge is added to each stamp. The proceeds from all surcharges will be used for projects developed by the Child Welfare Stamps Foundation (Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland). This independent foundation is committed to giving children in the Netherlands and other countries equal development opportunities. To make this aid possible, the foundation organises the Child Welfare Stamps campaign, among other things. The campaign has been listed in the Dutch National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2017.

This year, more than 130,000 pupils from the last two years of primary schools will be taking orders for the Child Welfare Stamps from 27 September through 4 October. PostNL will deliver all orders starting on 11 October. The proceeds from the 2022 campaign amounted to €9.6 million. The theme of the 2023 campaign is ‘Let every child participate’, with the focus being on children facing social and societal exclusion. More and more children are falling behind at school. They have such big problems at home that they are unable to develop to their full potential, thus being unable to get the best out of themselves. Child Welfare Stamps helps these children with projects that make them feel more confident and broaden their horizons. This way these children can be guided towards positive development, at school and beyond.

The LEGO Group is the Danish toy manufacturer of the well-known plastic building blocks and figurines. The founder of the 1916 family business is Ole Kirk Christiansen, who first made furniture and later wooden toys. The first building blocks appeared on the market in 1947: plastic blocks that you could click together to make structures. The first minifigures appeared in the 1970s, later followed by themed products such as city, medieval, engineering, space, science fiction, pirates and robots. The name LEGO comes from Danish and is an abbreviation of the words ‘leg godt’, which essentially means ‘play well’. The LEGO Group is still a family business, headed by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the founder’s grandson.

Sofie Vriends, Director of Child Welfare Stamps: ‘We see more and more children falling behind and not getting the same opportunities to develop to their full potential. For example, one in 12 children now grow up in poverty. One in six children has a parent with a mental health or addiction problem. And a lot of children feel lonely on a regular basis. They do not get to learn enough and are isolated, at school and beyond. We believe in the resilience of these children and do all we can to give them the opportunities they deserve. It is for them that this year’s proceeds from the Child Welfare Stamps campaign are earmarked.’

With the help of the whole of the Netherlands, Child Welfare Stamps wants these children to participate again. Vriends: ‘Our projects help children become more confident and mentally stronger. We show children that they are not alone, and that they can also help each other. Together, we ensure that children get the best out of themselves and that every child can participate, at school and beyond.’

Child Welfare Stamps 2023 feature a winter scene set on the quay of a typical Dutch town, with typical Dutch fun on the ice of a frozen canal. In the background of the top row of stamps is a continuous row of canal houses. On the quay, children are playing: riding their bike, listening to music and riding a skateboard. The children on the ice are sledding and skating. Animals are depicted on the edges of the sheet: two cats, two birds and two squirrels. The middle stamp depicts a dog at the edge of the quay. The illustration continues across all sheet edges, which also feature the logos of the LEGO Group, Child Welfare Stamps and PostNL. On the stamps themselves, the denomination and the surcharge are printed in the top left-hand corner, with the country (Netherlands) in the bottom right-hand corner.

Typography
Cera Pro (2015-2018, Jakob Runge, Ortenburg, Germany) was used for the typography of the texts.

A nice goal
Marloes Zwagerman is Brand Relations Manager at the LEGO Group in Antwerp. Part of her responsibilities included supervising the international design team that created the illustrations for Child Welfare Stamps 2023. ‘When we were asked whether the LEGO Group wanted to participate, we quickly said yes,’ Zwagerman says. ‘Of course! It was really fun to be able to do this. And for such a great cause. The motto of this year’s Child Welfare Stamps – let every child participate – is nicely aligned with the LEGO Group’s values. As far as I know, this is the first time LEGO elements have appeared on Dutch stamps. Stamps with LEGO did come out in Austria and Switzerland last year, but those were single issues. This is a complete sheet, with a huge print run. I also used to sell Child Welfare Stamps as a schoolgirl, in Hoogkarspel where I grew up. That made it extra special to be involved in this project.’

Cycling and skating
The design team created a special illustration for the Child Welfare Stamps in which LEGO minifigures play a starring role, centred around the ‘let every child participate’ theme and with a clear connection to the Netherlands. Zwagerman: ‘There are no Dutch nationals in our international design team, so I offered some suggestions on possible angles. The popularity of cycling and skating, for example. And the typical Dutch setting with the row of canal houses. We deliberately avoided stereotypes like tulips and clogs. Other than that, the designers were allowed to tap into all their creativity. We all enjoyed working on the project immensely. The LEGO Group is an international organisation, of course, with clear guidelines for the uniformity of all our communication worldwide. Then it is always nice to be given more freedom in creating a design – within those guidelines of course.’

Helping each other
The ‘let every child participate’ theme is perfectly aligned with the LEGO Group’s philosophy on social inclusion. ‘Playing together naturally fits with what we want to achieve with LEGO,’ Zwagerman explains. ‘Everyone is equal, something that you can see in the identical skin colour of our minifigures. We show diversity in hair style or clothing choice, for example. But also in other ways, such as featuring a wheelchair on one of the stamps Whoever you are, everyone is welcome to play together. That is why no one is standing alone on a stamp. Also, each minifigure has a different perception of what they’re doing together. And they help each other. On the bottom right, the girl is holding the hand of the little boy who is scared of skating. The stamp in the middle shows one of the skaters almost falling over, but another skater is already on his way to help.’

Individual stories
All the stamps together show a winter scene with lots of fun on the ice with every child participating. Zwagerman: ‘Each stamp features an individual story. After all, stamps are really meant to be torn out and stuck on an envelope or card. Almost everything you see in the illustration comes from the LEGO Group’s wide range of toys. Only a few canal houses were made up, because we don’t have that many different houses in our range. Also, the lower row of stamps on the left and right features ice floes shaped like LEGO bricks. Because we always want to show somewhere how our history started.’

Participation is open to everyone
The fun on the ice is concentrated on the bottom stamps on the Child Welfare Stamps 2023 sheet. Above, you can see children cycling and skateboarding. “But there’s more happening here,’ says Zwagerman. ‘Above on the big postage stamp, three children are listening to music while watching what’s happening on the ice. A girl wearing a baseball cap is standing next to the boy in the wheelchair. She’s dancing to the music. The girl on the right with the headscarf is operating the ghetto blaster. The headscarf might as well be a hoodie. We deliberately left that in the middle, because we want as many people as possible to be able to identify with our illustrations. And in all these illustrations, participation is central. Because participation is open to everyone. Even if you don’t actually dare, even if you find it very scary.’

About the designer
Marloes Zwagerman (1986, Hoorn) studied media, information and communication at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Amsterdam) and communication and information sciences at the Free University of Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) from 2004 to 2010. After graduating, she worked successively as a communications consultant and manager at cut flower processor Bercomex, KNGF Geleidehonden (KNGF Guide Dogs), tour operator Thika Travel, beauty product supplier Mylène and tour operator Sur La Iri. She joined the LEGO Group in 2018, first as Brands & Events Manager and since January 2022 as Brand Relations Manager.