ALAND ISLANDS 100 YEARS OF WILFULNESS FRANKING LABELS

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Åland celebrates 100 years of wilfulness. The set shows four stamps of which one shows us the sailing vessel POMMERN. viewtopic.php?p=19062#p19062

Åland’s 100th anniversary marks 2022, and we present the first issue, new franking labels, on 1 February. The powerful slogan of the anniversary year is also the name of the series, designed by Annika Zetterqvist who also created the logo and visual profile of the anniversary.
The franking labels are based on the graphic profile of the Åland anniversary year created by Annika Zetterqvist, the graphic designer at Åland advertising agency April Kommunikation. She won a contest announced by the Åland Government to design a logo for the anniversary and was commissioned to also create the graphic profile.
“When my colleague Anna Karlsson thought of using the word willfulness as a heading to describe Åland and Åland temperament, it was easy for me to start looking for symbols that could serve as a kind of summary. Some symbols were obvious, while others were potentially provocative and norm-breaking. I wanted to arouse curiosity, surprise, and engage. There is no main symbol except possibly the sea, which of course cannot be ignored since we live on an island”, Annika explains.
On the labels, the designer Annika presents a selection: “The biggest challenge was the limited space and the request that the motifs would fit together like a puzzle. Of course, I wanted to include the Åland colors that are visible in the hearts. Here, you find the important maritime history with both POMMERN and the Lågskär lighthouse, but also the midsummer crown as a familiar symbol of Åland’s cultural history. The deer represents public Åland, while the swan is a flirt with Finland. The berry with leaves underneath is the logo of Åland’s development and sustainability agenda, which I’ve worked with. As I was creating the graphic profile, Åland network Bärkraft (sustainability) had just won EU’s sustainability award for having defined its own local agenda based on the UN’s global sustainability objectives. It suited the topic of willfulness well, the courage to go your own way and create something of your own. The peace sign, of course, alludes to the demilitarization. The Åland creativity and nature interact in the dragonfly created from cutlery spoons by scrap artist Johan Karlsson”

Source: Åland Post Stamps No 4 2021
Åland Islands 2022 franking label. 2.00 Euro