‘I want to exaggerate natural phenomena’ – Michiel Schuurman on his project 'Gewoontjes' Stamps for PostNL

‘Through research into light and shadows, the designer has given the ordinary attention, aesthetics and colour.’ – Michiel Schuurman was awarded a Bronze Lamp at this year’s Dutch Creativity Awards for his project 'Gewoontjes' Stamps for PostNL. As the winner of the Dutch Design Awards Communication category in 2017, Michiel was commissioned by PostNL to create a sheet of stamps. We ask Michiel to revisit the project with us and find out why he chose marbles to be the central design for the stamps, how the collaboration went with PostNL, and learn what inspires him creatively.

A huge congratulations for receiving your Bronze Lamp! Was it a big surprise on the day when your award was delivered?

Yes, it was a total surprise – I actually was expecting a pizza so I had already planned my evening meal around it. We ended up ordering burritos instead if I recall correctly. The Lamp itself has a nice place in my collection of ‘objects made from the wrong material’. I also have a bronze Toblerone bar, several ceramic fruits and vegetables and a wooden package of tobacco. The Bronze Lamp is a perfect addition.

As you stated in your entry to the Dutch Creativity Awards, you’ve been ‘fascinated by the depiction of marbles or spheres for a while now’ – why did you decide to use marbles for your stamps?

Drawing a sphere is easy to do but hard to master. A sphere is one of those things you can’t really draw with outlines, you need to work with light and shadows to get it right. A marble is extra fascinating because of the transparency – light travels through it and reacts with it.

It made sense to me to put marbles on the stamps because they feel like family to each other. They’re about the same size and can sometimes be found in the same spot. Everybody has a clutter drawer at home and in my drawer, you can find both of these objects. I also liked the idea that everything on the stamp is life sized.

How was the collaboration with PostNL - did they give you freedom to create whatever you wanted or did you have to stick to a few criteria?

The briefing was quite exceptional because I could do whatever I wanted. It was an experiment of PostNL to grant the winner of the Dutch Design Awards total freedom to develop a sheet of stamps around private interests. Sacha van Hoorn (PostNL) was very supportive of all my ideas and a pleasure to work with. Throughout the whole design process I showed a lot of in-betweens and sketches to keep the project grounded and realistic. This helped to ensure we didn’t encounter any bumps along the way.

As the jury stated in their feedback, ‘the design pays homage to the beauty of everyday objects that are often overlooked’ – was this outcome intended when you originally started thinking about the project?

Absolutely. I think it’s part of my job to really look hard at the things around me and to shine a new light on these objects.

Images below

1. Final stamp set

2. Early sketch of the set

Your designs are known and praised for their trippy and vibrant colours, often married with psychedelic typography - how did this signature style develop?

To be honest, this isn’t entirely intentional. I don’t sit down and say to myself, ‘let’s make something trippy’. It happens during the process because I want to exaggerate natural phenomena. I have a passion for physics and the maths that surrounds us. The world around us IS very trippy and psychedelic, you just aren’t paying enough attention. It’s my pleasure to rub your nose in it. I also think it’s because people need labels – calling my work psychedelic or trippy makes it easy to talk about.

What’s the first thing you do when starting a new project?

I try to get as fast as I can to a sketch that I call 'a proof of concept'. I have to come up with something that carries a lot of potential so I can lose myself in it. This sketch doesn’t have to be good necessarily, but it has to provide me with enough direction. This first period can be a bit feverish and I tend to overwork myself so ideally, I let it rest for a while before I proceed. The last phase is detailing which doesn’t necessarily mean embellishing or adding details but rather making sure that the overall finish is as good as I can get it.

How do you get creatively inspired?

Natural phenomena, physics and maths are very inspiring to me. Also the general enthusiasm and drive of people, whether they are artists or not, inspire me.

Best piece of advice?

Buy one of my screenprints. You’ll immediately feel better.