Keep calm and...

In my opinion one of the biggest crazes around at the minute is with the keep calm and carry on posters that have suddenly become iconic throughout the country (and abroad!) and used in so many forms of advertising, promoting and marketing! I love the original KC&CO poster and how is was used in 1939 at the beginning of world war II to strengthen morale and give people courage in the face of a war-threatened country. When it was first released it didn't get much publication as it was only distributed in limited numbers, but it resurfaced again in 2000 and now it is everywhere! The sad thing is that no one knows who the original designer of the poster was!

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I know that John Lewis have taken this iconic poster and used it for their summer merchandising. Their window display in the John Lewis store in my city has a big summer scene set out with the KC&CO style printed on mugs, bags, notebooks and even plasters!

The craze isn't just for the keep calm and carry on wording on the poster but all the word-substitution posters in a similar style. Below are some of my favourites:

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I like this design craze. Yes, it may be a little bit overdone now and is losing it's uniqueness but there is something so fresh, quirky and very British about it. I feel that the history associated with it's design only heightens peoples' love of it! Let us all keep calm and carry on no matter what may come our way!

(via pinterest)