And I think there were a hundred more pages after this. Either way.. I was automatically attracted to these posters when I first saw them months ago. Not only are they cool looking, but they have a pretty neat back story.

During the early spring of 1939 and a war with Germany almost inevitable, the British Government’s Ministry of Information commissioned a number of propaganda posters to be displayed throughout the country upon the outbreak of war. The message was relayed straight from King George VI to his people and let the country know that all measures to defend the country were taking place.

Using the crown of King George VI as the only graphic element, the message was simple “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON”.

The 2.5 million posters were never released and until a decade ago, were never seen. An original was found within a pile of dusty books that were bought from auction.

So after learning the back story, I really wanted to hang one or more of these in my new apt. But $20 bucks or more for some Gill Sans and vector art? Unless its the original, this is something I could do on my own. Using helvetica as a modern replacement, I made my own in a matter of minutes:

You might have seen these hanging in my bedroom in one of my previous posts. I went a little crazy:

The truth is, once something breaks out on the internet, you cant expect it to last long without it getting poked fun at. Here are some interesting examples that I thought were pretty funny:

and my personal fav:

This inspired me to make my own version, inspired both by the current economy and Isaac Mizrahi:

Not exactly the most original, but still fun. If you want a tee with the slogan, let me know

Keep calm and… oh, you know the rest. cheers!