2009 Keep Calm

All last month I followed people all over the blog world coming up with their word for the year. I could never find one word that seemed right for me, so I've decided to use a phrase instead. As for many, many people, these past couple of years have been, and continue to be difficult ones for our family. I love the intent behind this poster - it acknowledges the situation, but calmly faces what is to come. It is what I hope to do in 2009.


Read more about the story here.
In the Spring of 1939, with war against Germany all but inevitable, the British Government's Ministry of Information commissioned a series of propaganda posters to be distributed throughout the country at the onset of hostilities. It was feared that in the early months of the war Britain would be subjected to gas attacks, heavy bombing raids and even invasion. The posters were intended to offer the public reassurance in the dark days which lay ahead.

Using the crowns of George VI as the only graphic device, the stark red and white poster read 'Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will Bring Us Victory'. A similar poster, of which around 600,000 were issued, carried the slogan 'Freedom is in Peril'. But the third design, of which over 2.5 million posters were printed, simply read 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.