Fish in the Nordic Countries stamps

For the series about domestic saltwater fish species, stamp designer Gustav Mårtensson again picked a typeface based on a local vernacular source (see also the Per Anders Fogelström stamps). This time it’s Ferry (2014), the second release in Letters from Sweden’s “Fabrik Suite”.

The debut typeface of Erik Moberg is based on the anonymous lettering that adorns the vintage ferries crossing Stockholms ström, see Nos 1, 2, and 3. According to the information on the website of Rederi Stockholms Ström, the boats got their current names rather recently, but the lettering style with a bold wide sans serif is older, see this postcard from 1948.

Almost 200 species of fish have been identified living in salt or brackish water along the coast of Sweden. Some of them are uncommon while others are abundant. Fish come in a wide variety of shapes and colors and have widely varying lifestyles. What all the species in this series, and many other marine fish, have in common is that they all look after their eggs in some way and it is the male that guards the eggs. The coil stamp shows the relatively common Three-spined stickleback. The coil is part of the joint Nordic series where all eight Nordic postal agencies are issuing a stamp on the same theme. The booklet features Cuckoo wrasse, Lumpfish, Two-spotted goby, Rocket gunnel and Short-spired sea scorpion. — PostNord

The drawings for the stamps were made by Lars Sjööblom, based on photography by Anders Salesjö. I doubt that all the depicted fish species live underneath the ferries in the Strömmen, but Ferry’s certainly a nicely topical choice. Furthermore, it’s a good example that type on stamps doesn’t have to be small and shy. Well done, Gustav Mårtensson!