Great Britain’s Ministry of Information took the threat of a Nazi invasion very seriously during World War II. Yes, these leaders realized that such an invasion would be catastrophic to their nation’s economy and infrastructure, but they also thought that it might also be a potentially crippling blow to their people’s morale. So, they did what any good Ministry of Information would do; they created and commissioned two-and-a-half million copies of a motivational poster that would be distributed all over Great Britain in lieu of a “last case scenario.”
The blood red posters were uniformly decorated with the same motivational phrase in bold, white typology.
The type simply read: “Keep Calm and Carry On.”
The message was intended to calm the wrecked nerves of a people at war at home. Fortunately, the Ministry of Information never had to distribute the posters. In fact, not many people even knew of their existence and the posters soon vanished and were forgotten.
In the year 2000 a single copy of the Keep Calm and Carry On poster was found in a second-hand bookstore in Alnwick, Northumberland and the surviving image was placed in the public domain and distributed freely. The poster has since taken on a new life of its own and has been applied to everything from general motivational paraphernalia to commercial merchandise (think clothing, coffee mugs, designer handbags and everything in between). The history of the poster is well understood, but it still doesn’t stop people from investing their own meaning into it. This is totally understandable. The phrase “Keep Calm and Carry On” is afterall motivationally applicable to countless real life and personal situations and real people have little or no difficulty picking it up on their own and running with it.
Personally, I love it. I’m not sure I have seen a better or more emotive combination of color, type, and meaning in a single motivational poster. this is especially true if it’s original and intended purpose is considered. The fact that multiple interpretations can be personally attributed to it makes it even better. It’s art more than it is poster.
So, whatever it is you are dealing with today, remember, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”