KÄNSLORNA UTANPÅ
The brief from PostNord was to create a design proposal for a series of postal stamps within the wide category of greetings and ”pleasure mail”. With the concept Känslorna utanpå (roughly translated to Heart on your sleeve), I wanted to create a communicative contrast by bringing attributes of modern digital communication into the analog letter format. At the same time, it transforms the envelope into a surface that can be used to hint a sense of the letter's content.
The project explores emojis as a form of wordless written language. A simple emoji conveys an immediate expression that is universally understood, regardless of language, age, or culture, and has quickly become an essential part of daily communication. Once primarily used in personal and informal text exchanges, emojis are now widely accepted across various communication contexts.
I did let the shape of the stamp became the emoji itself, with ten distinct characters based on established emoji expressions. These were carefully selected to convey positive messages, with some allowing for intentionally ambiguous interpretations. A custom typeface was designed to achieve a clean, linear, and semi-futuristic aesthetic that complements the overall design. The stamps were printed using six Pantone colors, including five bright neon hues and a dark copper metallic for the typography and characters. A circular pattern in clear varnish was applied as an additional security feature to prevent counterfeiting.