2022 Juliana of the Netherlands - Sheetlets

The issue of the Juliana of the Netherlands stamp sheet on 13 October 2022 coincides with the opening of the The century of Juliana, a queen and her ideals exhibition at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. The stamp sheet comprises ten personal stamps in ten different designs. The stamps feature distinctive photos related to the century of Juliana of the Netherlands, with pictures taken throughout these ten decades. Each stamp is marked ‘1’, the denomination for post weighing up to 20g sent to an address within the Netherlands. The design of Juliana of the Netherlands was created by studio026 in Velp.

On the eve of the 75th anniversary of her inauguration as Queen of the Netherlands, De Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam presents an exhibition on Juliana and her extraordinary reign. The exhibition about the monarch includes over 400 items, including 100 art pieces from the Royal Collections. The pieces range from fine art, historical documents and photography, famous evening gowns, special film fragments, royal dinnerware, gold gifts, the iconic inauguration dress, colourful angisa (headscarves) from Suriname, typical Juliana glasses, children's clothes and toys to a table fully set and decorated for a state banquet, and the monogrammed Rolls Royce of the sovereign. The century of Juliana, a queen and her ideals runs from Saturday 15 October to Sunday 9 April 2023.

The Juliana of the Netherlands stamp sheet comprises ten personal stamps in ten different designs within the fixed framework of personal stamps. The layout of the design is based on the ten decades of the century in which Juliana of the Netherlands lived. Each stamp features two photos, with the photo in the foreground largely covering the one in the background. The picture at the front leans to the left and is an image typical for the corresponding decade. The picture at the back is straight and shows an enlarged element of the previous decade’s picture. The pictures are alternately printed in black and white and monochrome blue. Of each picture in the front, the top left corner is folded over the vertical white strip next to the image area. The right edge of each front photo is curled up. The triangle at the top-right shows a series of consecutive years – orange if the years belong to the decade in question, black if they do not. The year of the picture is printed in bold. The vertical white strip next to the stamp features a short caption for the picture in front. Next to the perforations on the top and bottom sheet edge, the ten decades are marked in years.

The font used for the denomination 1 and Nederland was designed in 2018 by type designer Martin Majoor from Arnhem. The title on the sheet edge is printed in the Antique Olive font (Roger Excoffon, 1962-1966, Fonderie Olive/URW Type Foundry) and the other typography is printed in T-Star (Michael Mischler, 2002/2017, Foundry Binnenland).The full name of Juliana of the Netherlands (1909-2004) is Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Princess Juliana spent her childhood at Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, and Noordeinde Palace and Huis ten Bosch Palace in the Hague. She solely had private lessons for both her primary and secondary education. The princess lived in Katwijk from 1927 to 1930, attending lectures at Leiden University. Her studies were awarded an honorary doctorate in literature and philosophy. In the early 1930s, Princess Juliana was active in social welfare and involved in institutions such as the National Crisis Committee and the Dutch Red Cross. She married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1937, after which the couple moved into Soestdijk Palace in Baarn. During World War II, Princess Juliana stayed in Canada with her daughters Beatrix and Margriet. This is also where her daughter Irene was born. Daughter Maria Christina joined the family in Baarn in 1947. Juliana succeeded her mother Wilhelmina as Queen of the Netherlands in 1948. As queen and head of state, she played an important role in the reconstruction period of the 1950s, the rebellious 1960s and the prosperous but turbulent 1970s. In 1980, she abdicated and was succeeded by her daughter Beatrix. After stepping down, she remained involved in issues of social welfare, now as Princess Juliana once more. From the early 1990s, Princess Juliana gradually started participating in fewer and fewer public events. She died on 20 March 2004 at the age of 94. Her interment in the tomb of Orange-Nassau in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft took place on 30 March 2004. From that moment, her title became Queen Juliana once again.

The Juliana of the Netherlands stamp sheet was designed by Anne Schaufeli and Huub de Lang of studio026 in Velp. Earlier this year, they were responsible for the design of the Het Loo Palace stamp issue. ‘So it’s another royal subject,’ Schaufeli says. ‘But still totally different. It really makes a difference whether you create a design about the interior of a palace or about a person. Especially when it involves someone like Juliana. She was the mother of the Netherlands, humble and approachable. And pretty headstrong, I like that.’

Decades
When they were developing their concept, the designers were inspired by the The Century of Juliana exhibition at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, the exact occasion this stamp sheet was created for. Schaufeli: ‘With ten stamps covering the history of a century, working with a breakdown into ten decades worked out perfectly. Each stamp features two pictures. The picture in the foreground shows one of the many facets of Juliana; the picture in the background is a fragment of the image on the stamp related to the previous decade. This way, you get to see elements of her whole life, from Juliana as a baby to her final years.’

Transition
Juliana's century was a tumultuous period, with many transitions to new eras. ‘From war to reconstruction, from crisis to revival,’ Schaufeli says. ‘That is why transition was a key word for us, both regarding content and form. This was emphasised by alternating the colours blue and black, alternating sharp and blurred images and depicting the picture on the front as a page about to be turned. Like leafing through a historical document. Adding shadow brings movement to the image and suggests you are entering a new era. This way, each stamp makes the transition to the next decade.’

Continuity
The slanted position of the picture in the front gives the viewer a peek at the picture in the back and also at a timeline at the top-right of the stamp. Schaufeli: ‘We used this triangle to show a timeline with particular years. The orange numbers are the years of the decade, with the year the picture at the front was taken in bold. The connected years are printed in black to emphasise continuity. Thus, a layered design was created as a representation of the multifaceted nature of the subject. We chose the T-Star font – a clean, grid-like letter – for the years and the caption. The orange matches the colour used by the Nieuwe Kerk; the blue is a royal shade. The orange and blue emphasise the character of this issue, as it is and remains a royal stamp.’

Sketching stage
Schaufeli says that while developing the concept, as many as ‘a hundred sketches’ were created before everyone was finally satisfied. ‘There are so many ways in which you can make an image transition. For instance, we looked at whether we could make images blend into each other and tried out numerous ways to represent the page-turning effect. At the same time, we had to choose from a huge range of pictures. We only selected pictures featuring Juliana and with the clearest, sharpest image possible. Otherwise, it just couldn’t work.’

Symbol
With the concept and image selection, the designers wanted to do justice to Juliana's personality. ‘That's why we tried to show as many facets of her as possible,’ Schaufeli says. ‘She was a daughter, princess, mother and queen, visited many different places and of course was an important symbol at moments like the inauguration and abdication. We wanted to show all these subjects, wanted to touch on all of them. This way, using all these images, we tell are telling history, with Juliana taking centre stage.’

Picture selection
Apart from Queen Wilhelmina, Queen Beatrix and Prince Bernhard, no other persons appear in the chosen pictures. This also had a practical reason, Schaufeli explains. ‘We knew we would have to crop a lot of the image, which is harder when a lot is happening in a picture. Cropping was an exact science, because we wanted the particular situation to remain visible. Moreover, each picture also had to have an element that could be used as the background behind the picture in the front. It did help, of course, that Juliana was photographed very often. Except in her final years, when she lived in seclusion, so there were fewer pictures to choose from. But fortunately, we did find this lovely picture, together with Prince Bernhard, as the final image.’

About the designers
studio026 is a graphic design studio in Velp, consisting of Anne Schaufeli (1987, Warnsveld) and Huub de Lang (1980, Arnhem). Both studied at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem from 2004 to 2008. Since 2009, the agency has focused on designs that are conceptually, editorially and aesthetically sound. The agency’s graphic designers believe in conceptual thinking and take plenty of time and space for research, experiments and innovation. studio026 designs unique books, posters, magazines, catalogues, identities, infographics and all kinds of graphic expressions. Anne Schaufeli and Huub de Lang designed the Het Loo palace (2022), The Netherlands from the Air (2022), Historic Motorcycles (2021), Old postal routes (2020) and 150 years of the Red Cross in the Netherlands (2017) stamps for PostNL.