Janne Harju

Finnish Post just announced stamps of year 2012, and this one was there too: Easter stamp, illustrated and designed by me.

Here’s a set of short tv-ad-animations I made for Finnish Post, about redirecting mail for summer holiday.

Set of three We have moved -postcards for Finnish Post. They give these free for people who have moved so they can tell everyone their new address.

I did this one for an ad of a bakery. For some reason it was never published (as far as I know). I think it’s very good anyway.

Illustration for a Helsinki Book Fair -magazine. Story is about how authors are treated like strange creatures in a circus sideshow.

A cover illustration and design for Kalle Isokallio’s latest book Maailmanparantaja (Do-Gooder (translated with Google translator)).

A set of recent illustartions to different magazines.

1: Sauna in the basement
2: Apartments of the future
3: Safety on the road
4: Safety at the work
5: Lice
6: Washing clothes
7: Keeping food cold

Here’s a set of four recent illustrations for Anna-magazine.

1: Domestic violence
2: How to ask for a salary raise
3: Social wife, non-social husband
4: How to choose who to vote

Set of illustrations about different “argument types”. Knights represent different ways of arguing. These three are:

1: Besserwisser, one that knows everything better
2: Explosive type, one that, you know, explodes easily
3: Digger, one that never forgets anything and brings same old things to every argument

Monday, January 24th, Finnish Post will release first new stamps of 2011 including miniature sheet of five Valentine’s day postage stamps, named “Ystävyyden oksalla” (Branches of friendship), designed by me.

Every year Finnish Post asks one artist to design special set of five Valentine’s day stamps. I got this job in the end of  2009 and sent the package to printing in june. Stamps were announced in october. I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement and therefore I could not tell anyone about this exciting job I was doing. By the way: Valentine’s day in Finland is called “Day of Friends”, it’s not only about love, but also friendship.

In the stamps there are five birds dreaming in their trees. I wanted to include a story to this stamp-sized medium. I am not the one who tells that story though, people, sender and receiver can have their own story of what birds are dreaming about.

Shape of stamps is free, it follows the outer edge of trees and birds. Not traditional squares, maybe even something that hasn’t been done before. Stamps are printed in Hexachrome that really makes colors to pop out.

I also designed First Day Cover (FDC) and postal cancellation:

In the morning of 24.1., at 7.20, I’ll be interviewed in Finnish MTV3´s morning program Huomenta Suomi (Good Morning Finland)
From 12.00 to 14.00 I’ll be signing stamps and First Day Covers at Pääpostitalo.

Stamps, First Day Covers, cards and magnets can be ordered from Posti’s web shop.