On May 6, Posti will issue the Pride stamp designed by Eero Lampinen, featuring a diverse group marching in the colors of the rainbow flag. The stamp will celebrate equality and human rights.
”Pride does not only encourage people to tolerate diversity, it also celebrates it. Pride is also an opportunity to remember and honor those who have fought for our rights,” says Eero Lampinen.
The 38-year-old illustrator has always been interested in marginal characters and phenomena, and the invitation to design a Pride-themed stamp felt inspiring to him.
”Creating images is building a parallel reality piece by piece. You can create a dystopia or a utopia. However, you have to stay positive, and my stamp represents utopia. The mindsets of the characters may contradict each other, but they still have to be able to march together,” says Lampinen.
Designing the stamp was something new for Lampinen, who was used to creating larger images.
”It was a new kind of challenge to fit the entire spectrum of sexual and gender minorities into a small stamp. The image also had to be clear and easy to interpret.”
The characters marching in the stamp form the colors of the rainbow flag. The style is psychedelic, and Lampinen was inspired by the 1960s and 1970s. The first Pride parades took place in the United States in the early 1970s.
”I enjoyed drawing the different human characters and their details. They include references to Tom of Finland, one of the icons of the history of sexual and gender minorities in Finland, and drag queens, for example. Shoes play a big role, because I want to emphasize putting yourself in someone else's shoes. In the current global situation, it would be important to understand other people’s experiences and perspectives.”
Lampinen has many great memories of Pride marches, as he has participated in several marches in Helsinki and other cities since he was young.
Comic book school and cartoons inspired Lampinen to choose the field
Eero Lampinen has studied at the Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Visual Arts and at an art school in Berlin, for example, and he has studied graphic design at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Eero was interested in a career in creating images from a young age. As a child, he was particularly inspired by Disney’s cartoons, and later by anime films.
”We lived in Brussels when I was a child. I went to comic book school on Saturdays and watched a lot of television from a young age. In 2002, I went to an animation film festival for the first time in Brussels and saw an anime film, which sparked my interest. The impact of different animation styles can still be seen in my illustrations.”
According to Lampinen, the value of an illustrator's work is only emphasized today, as artificial intelligence makes it easy for anyone to create images.
”The people who use artificial intelligence to create illustrations would use image banks anyway. Those who appreciate an illustrator’s vision will continue to order work from professionals.”
During his career, Lampinen has created many illustrations for magazines. Lately, he has been making a lot of illustrations for packaging, including wine bottles and cosmetics. He is also focusing on painting larger paintings, which is new for him; he is working on an exhibition in B-gallery in Turku in October.