apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

sfgirlbybay sells them in her etsy shop in many colors:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5244654

you must have missed this year's small cool contest. look at the entries and i doubt you really want one too ;-) they're this year's cliché.

Is this the new "for like ever" and it's driving me nuts already

I do not want to sound extra cranky but there's so much affordable and beautiful (And simple, too) original art out there! I guess I should just shut up, keep calm and carry on for like ever.

la loca... spot on.

why not have a look at the graphic work of my neighbor M.? all's for sale. click 'archive' on her index page to see what fun work is available if you want to avoid the cliché trap.

http://marjokeschulten.nl/index.html

They really are everywhere! It seems like every house tour on AT has one of those posters...it's like a where's Waldo game only with crappy art.

for some of us, its a part of our heritage...

I understand it was first distributed as British encouragement during World War II.

I couldn't stand to have my Keep Calm print at home anymore, it seems like such a cliche. I took it to work where it has received many compliments... guess I know my coworkers don't share my design blog habit.

If you watch MTV cribs everyone has the requisite copy of Scarface lying around... Keep Calm is the Scarface of the AT world...

Obviously, it's popular because the message resonates for many people, and it's better for you than Xanax in troubled times. If you love it and it inspires you, wade through the disdain and enjoy it.

Does a week go by where AT doesn't show this poster in some form or fashion?

f ron -- amen. getting sick of seing it. every one and their mother's dog has some sherbet colored rendition of this in their homes now. i doubt most of them even know of it's origins, which is what really sticks in my craw. i hate seeing history co-opted in such a pop culture way.

agreed. a bit played out (was going to post that in the initial post, but chickened out for fear of sounding catty... as it was a nice house overall). unless it has some sentimental value (part of heritage, necessary for mental clarity), then you might look to a charley harper print... um. i mean, vintage scholastic charts, or, or... paint by numbers paintings... or, or antlers... or just something else.

my advice to margo is now you know where to buy it if you like it. i think it's a nice poster offered in beautiful colors, so what if it's ubiquitous?

KarenH: I believe you're on to something...let's print up a ton of pastel "Wade through the disdain and enjoy it" posters and see how long it takes the backlash backlash to erupt.

"Keep Calm is the Scarface of the AT world..." ha! Spot on, CMU.

Well, the question's already been answered [indeed, a quick Google or AT search would have answered it], so I'll offer up my unsolicited 2 cents.

On the one hand, who cares if it's ubiquitous? If you like it, if the message resonates with you and you appreciate the design, why not live with something you love? Ubiquitous art gets a bad rap sometimes, but it's not like Ansel Adams wasn't an amazing photographer, or Charley Harper didn't see animals in a new way, or M.C. Escher didn't play incredible visual tricks on us, etc. There's a reason why these works become commonplace, and should that really affect how we perceive them?

On the other hand, there's something so lame in my mind about the fact that three contemporary, presumably somehow creative entities are now reproducing this poster. None of them are claiming authorship that they don't have, and I'm guessing that what they're doing is legal, but it seems so uncreative to devote your energies to producing and selling this image that just isn't yours. In that sense, I just wouldn't want to support that kind of effort, no matter how I feel about the product. I'd rather support someone working on their own thing now.

I guess I'm contradicting myself a bit. I feel very conflicted about this issue, even more so because I'm one of the zillion people out there designing and printing my own work, so this cooptation is a touchy subject for me.

I have the red one from Keep Calm Gallery in my home office. No one recognizes it, but they love it. Confirmation: my friends and family aren't into design blogs.

It's getting a bit tiresome to see it everywhere...

it wouldn't be an AT post w/o hipsters lamenting now would it?

Maybe the key to design happiness is to stop reading design blogs.

It would extend the shelf lives of our owl figurines, deer graphic art, reupholstered chairs with bold-print fabric, tree branch wall decals, IKEA JULES chairs, and anything painted robin's egg blue or lime green.

Well I'll bet that is one person who doesn't ask anything again. Like the poster, hate the whine!

Funny how people are complaining about seeing it everywhere. That was the original intention. It was supposed to be plastered all over England if an invasion or other catastrophe took place during WWII.

Yeah, it's everywhere. Or at least w/ people who frequent design blogs (like...obviously...YOU). Publisher must be doing pretty well with 'em.

My mum sent me a postcard version during my finals, which I still have - people always have a chuckle about it when they come over, and I have to stop myself from being embarrassed about the cliche.

It's important to remember that people in the real world don't read AT every day like I do :)

ohhhhhhh...I loved it..it is the first time i've noticed it ..or I just didn't 'click' on the pix the poster was in..so..I think I can persuade myself to STILL PURCHASE IT AND ENJOY IT SO MUCH!!..love the English attitude..so important in that sad, sad time!../simplicity is right...and says it all...(now I will check out the colors available : ) )

pachyermfan - I was thinking the same thing. I love this poster and I do have it up in my home. I also got 3 more and gave them to friends who LOVE them. Its a nice reminder to chill out instead of hitting the bottle or...mmm...nevermind :)

Snarky snarky snarky.

The only time I see "IT" is when I come to this website.
Regular people will never have seen "IT."
Go buy "IT" Margo.

I have not seen a single KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON or FOR LIKE EVER poster in anyone's home.

I've seen them all over the freaking place on AT - but never once in real life. So even I would get one... I'll be the first person in my social circle to have one... so plllllbbbbbtttttt.

Hi guys,

I bought myself a copy of this print here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_15&listing_id=14366646

I hate this poster! can people put something eles up besides this thing?! Soooooooooo boring!!!!

i hate this poster! Can people come up with something eles?! So boring!

C'mon everybody...just calm down and go back to what you were doing.

more british propaganda

right on clickchick..i'm with you there.

I liked it at first but I don't like seeing it anymore. AT has beat it to death, thumbs down.

I want to know where the CAT art came from!! Is it an original?

I love it. Bought it at at UK Barter Books for less than $10.

This is a reproduction of a poster that appeared all over England during World War II (citizens subjected to and killed by nightly bombing raids over London). So maybe boring to some, but as a reminder that when you think you are having a bad day, just remember nobody is dropping bombs on your house.

I love reading interior design blogs, but why do they all have to feature the same stinkin' Saarinen Tulip Table, "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters, and the deer head/antlers over and over again?

BTW, I'm all for the creation of a "Wade through the disdain and enjoy it" or "Keep Calm is the Scarface of the AT world" poster!

I've seen this all over design blogs for, like, ever, and now it was on the back page of this month's "O" magazine so it will be even more prevalent.

Yes, "for like ever" joke intended. Yes, you should still buy it if you love it. And yes, I deserve flak for looking through "O" while visiting my mother this weekend.

I had never seen the poster before it seemed to be in every single one of the Small Cool apartments on AT and was quickly tiring of it, but am now totally intrigued by its history. Can you imagine if instead of the color security threat levels to instill fear in us, the W administration tried to calm us down instead? How times - and propaganda - have changed.

:)))

comforting to see that I wasn't the only one who didn't like these 'artworks'(!)

Every time I see this poster, I just get angry at a government telling it's citizens to keep calm and carry on whilst being bombed. Maybe I should make a "Rise Up and Overthrow" poster. Or just re-do these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12533165@N05/1346565036/

Also. Googling "Keep Calm and Carry On" comes up with 238472346238723 places to buy this thing. No one googles anymore?

Love it. It's a reminder to "take a breath" and keep plowin' through life, even when the snark hits the fan. I've got it in my office at work and not one day goes by without someone commenting on how cool it is. And to think I saw it first....and second....and third on AT. Thx, AT!

it made a cool drinking game though... during the 2008 smallest coolest contest i was allowed to pour myself a full glass of wine every time i saw the 'keep calm' poster.

thank god it was the year of the nervous participants.

It is fascinating to read all the comments in order, the same comments reoccur like a sort of vicious circle : where can I find it? It's found here. Its from WWII. I'm tired of seeing it everywhere. What is it? It's from WWII. I'm tired of seeing it everywhere... almost some sort of litany.

Other remark :

I'll print a poster: "give up!"

jesus folks, just keep calm and carry on with your day. why complain so much? if you don't like it, don't buy it.

let those who do love it and that the image resonates with enjoy it. cliche or not. how many eames plastic chairs, tulip tables, and barcelona chairs do we see? good design, and in this case a good statement, lasts through time. why else would this poster be experiencing a wave of new owners when it dates back to world war II? eventually, the people who thought it was trendy will take them down and apartment therapy will quit posting pictures of it and some of us will go back to having tons of people saying "i love that poster, tell me about it, where did you get it?"

More importantly, where does K T G come down on this?

alyson is in the september domino, last page. you can get the posters here: www.reformschoolrules.com

I like the idea of a "shriek and run amuck!" poster which features Edvard Munch's The Scream. Or maybe "run like the dickens!"

The payroll clerk at my job has a keep calm coffee mug AND poster.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ursonate/2759949994/

I do prefer Kelp clam and curry yum...

oh you kids. sorry to trouble you all so much with the posters. i think you should create your own - all of those ideas are just lovely.

in the meantime - which issue of Oprah magazine? would love to see it (oh come on, just one more time!).

cheer up everyone! :)

It's fascinating to read these comments and see how a Keep Calm poster can do the complete opposite to so many. I have to say, I was wondering why every one had one of these in their homes. I have counted at least 8 in the past few months. I for one don't get this trend at all.

I'm sorry I like this poster. Yes, c'est ubiquitous, but it's certainly better than the For Like Ever poster. Always thought that one was a bit daft. Anyhow, CALM DOWN people. Dang!

Aw, we love you SFgirlbybay..

Guess this all makes disdain tomorrow's cliche...

My feeling is if you like it get it! I'm always happy surrounding myself with things I love.

The very first time I saw was probably earlier last year on Real Simple or Blueprint(R.I.P!)...and then see more and more everywhere later that year.
I am surprised to see that mamy people who need a reminder to keep calm.
It's almost like seeing "Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn’t look good either" sign or "If you are grouchy, irritable...(you know the rest)" in someone's cubicle or next to a cash register:It's no longer funny because it's EVERYWHERE.
I rather display a bumper sticker on a wall...no I won't.

Its a bit like 'duck and cover'.

I like peacelily's 'shriek and run amuck' and hrhprincessfiona's 'duck and cover' ideas, those are funny.

My family spent three winters in the woods in Poland during WWII to avoid first the Germans, then the Russian invasion. They survived on turnips. I guess no one would understand it either if I hung something like this on my walls:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_3&listing_id=10387133

So maybe I should be more empathetic towards the Brits. And anyone who really appreciates the poster's historical significance.

methinks there's a difference between the (1) original meaning of this poster in its context, (2) its recreation and repurposed meaning (in its new context) and (3) its use an interior decor implement... since this an interior design blog (and one hopefully on the cutting edge), many folks are approaching it from this POV (i.e.: is this "cool" decor any longer?)... not from a historical-appreciation angle.

but... just because we don't think your poster is avant-garde any longer (i.e.: no longer a trend-setting interior design accoutrement) makes us neither un-calm, not un-cheery...

however, someone using the supposition that we're grumpy rather than coming to terms with the fact that in design yesterday's avant-garde is tomorrow's kitsch (i.e.: this poster was "the" design trend yesterday, but a bit tired today) does tend to make folks grumpy.

imho... "cheer up" or "calm down" is perhaps the most obnoxious thing anyone can say to another when there's simply a difference of opinion. it ranks up there with "you're just jealous" when someone finds you don't like or approve of something.

if you like the poster, fine... lord knows there's still a few toulouse lautrec posters in circulation and people wearing sweatpants... if the message resonates with you or it has some sentimental/cultural connection, go for it... but stop thinking that it's avant-garde interior decor or that were grumpy for not liking it: it's not and we're not.

as an aside, one of my students is working on the following project... talk about stunning, cutting-edge thinking and implementation... he's also made some kick-ass posters (and will hopefully be putting them out there for consumption, soon)...

http://www.anarkon.com/

YIKES! I like the poster...its a really yummy red. looks nice framed.
you can also get it at Blue Ribbon General Store in Brooklyn- sell them online- www.blueribbongeneralstore.com.

what i meant by 'cheer up' is that i find it increasingly upsetting to read all the negativity in the commenting section of this blog, regardless of the topic. it seems very petty and i don't quite understand the origin of it. it just snowballs into a dark place i don't comprehend or enjoy.

the writers/editors at ATSF work freakin' hard to come up with things to share with y'all, and i just find the rants about the most mundane things kind of depressing, and i am sure it is quite frustrating to the people who work hard to put out this blog. you try writing everyday and finding unique things to share. it's not always as easy as you might think. perhaps just think twice before you jump on the negative bandwagon, and if you don't care for something, maybe offer up something you do.

such snark. she didn't ask any of you what you thought of it. she just wants to know where she can find it. geez.

The only thing that makes me cringe about the "Keep Calm" poster is knowing that every time it appears on AT, it means a thread full of whining and no substance (which I have now added too, alas!).

Margo, just remember that only on AT and similar design blogs will people bitch about this perfectly lovely poster just because "everyone is doing". Buy the poster, enjoy it and bask in the compliments you'll inevitably get when you have visitors over to your place.

This poster is like an annoying song you hear everywhere you go. It's on TV, it's in movies, it's in all the stores you go into...

More importantly, where does K T G come down on this? - neutopian

You're weird. I don't know where the poster comes from at the time the question was asked, but I assume the answer would have come up eventually.

verhext:

I think this, from the set that you posted, is the most interesting contrast to the "Keep Calm" poster. Same basic message but totally different point. (And I think each was appropriate in its own context.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12533165@N05/1345691129/in/set-72157601909673220/

As much as I don't care for the poster (and I'm 1/2 English), it's no more ubiquitous than the one many of us had of a kitten hanging from a branch with the line "hang in there!" in the 70s.

There's nothing innately wrong with it--it just seems uninspired as a piece of art worth framing. A magnet on the fridge, maybe--but not something that deserves the "status" of a dining room wall.

Yikes! If you don't like the "Keep Calm" poster, then don't buy one. If Margo digs it, then she should go for it.

I agree that, although prevalent in our online comminuty, the posters are a rare site in the real world. I'll get one and hang it next to the Bf's kissing chicks poster and obey posse poster :). (college dorm rooms all seem to be decorated with a ridiculously homogeneous stock of crappy tacked up posters)

I can think of tons of things that turn up in tons of apartment tours: (eames, miller, tulip tables, anything west elm)

Not hating just saying...

Do want a tulip table though.

I like it, but I don't think it makes the statement I want to make in my apartment....then again my favourite print is one of logs...yeah impuse purchases that still make no sense a year later!

I think I will get one for one of my mates though...she was a history major and this is practically her life motto anyway.

Design snobs strike again! But then, it wouldn't be AT without the hispster liberal making themselves feel SO superior the tasteless masses.

The blog Stuff White People Likes needs to feature AT, because the obnoxious hipster they blog about is the prototype negative commenter here.

... seems like it's becoming cliche to call this poster "cliche". I don't usually comment, I just enjoy reading all the great info this design blog has to offer. I just decided I wanted to get one of these posters in the original red for when I move into a new apartment, so I was doing research and didn't realize how popular they are, and deservingly so. I felt comforted and happy when I first saw this. It's clean and simple design, and all the nice colors that you can find it in, make it a simple way to brighten a room. Not just with the color, but the words as well. I think it's silly to make others that are just discovering this poster feel stupid and "cliche" for thinking it's beautiful and wanting one. I'm sorry if I've stepped on any toes, but if you personally feel that you're above putting this poster on your walls, that's fine, but why ruin it for everyone else?

thanks..

pachyermfan: agree with what you said about how it's funny that people are complaining that it's "everywhere" when that was the original intention. I say the more, the merrier.

Goodness. You're all so emo and unique in your articulate comments of disdain.

Hmm, Now where's my kitty poster....

Hang in there.

p.s. I'd like to know what the new deer/squirrel is. My husband says spoons. I'm not so sure, I think there's going to be a new animal.

how about this instead of keep calm?

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat1_gallery_11&listing_id=14841410

I'm so contrary the more I read about the stuff I like being cliche, the more I am tempted to paint my home lime green and fill it with antlers, tulip tables, wall decals, and owl figurines.

Don't you guys get in a tizzy!!
I got the red print from Barter Books when they first appeared.It was just the right colour,style,humour and fitted in with my original National Savings posters from the 1930's.I still love it today as much as when I bought it. In fact it makes me smile everyday and that's enough in my book.When my kids think dinnertime is a chimps tea party I just have to look above their heads and keep calm and carry on.Cliched...who me??! Yep and I love it.
Interiors should be enjoyable and not stifled by what is or isn't 'in'. Buy what YOU love and don't worry what anyone else thinks.

Just for the record I am pretty certain that this poster was never put into circulation.It was intended for release in the event we were invaded.Which thankfully never happened!I am sure the British people would have had a few words to say if it had been released.Well I know my grandad would have anyway.Stiff upper lips yet another cliche!

If you people want to get pissy, why not create a long rant about how so many people can't seem to abandon wearing these Palestinian-inspired scarves.

I bought mine from here on a Buy One Get One free offer:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Keep-Calm-and-Carry-on-World-War-II-Poster-Reprint_W0QQitemZ190258157191QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190258157191&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177

It took just a week to arrive from the UK!

There's an interesting story behind this poster, The couple that own one of Britain's largest 2nd hand bookstores in the north of England are the one's who first came across the poster and started to print it... read the story at the link below.

http://www.barterbooks.co.uk/keepcalm.php

However it's other companies who take most of the credit for it. Admittedly people saw the potential in the iconic imagery and new how to capitalise on it... and of course the poster is copyright free and in the public domain, but still it's his lack of recognition of the discoverer's of the poster that annoys me.

If anyone wants to purchase some 'Keep Calm and Carry On' stuff I suggest you do it from the the true home of the iconic found phrase.. Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland. http://www.barterbooks.co.uk

I love it, I bought the original off the etsy website, everyone comments about it and I enjoy the saying daily

my husband's workplace, a startup of greige cubicles and absolutely no art or surface decoration, was so pitiful that I got one of these for $25 to hang in the lunchroom. he said it had to be inoffensive, and this seemed to fit the bill. All these tech geeks loved it, they obviously dont spend time at design blogs, so it was new to them. It has become an unofficial mantra around the place, start-ups being somewhat rollercoasterish.

Has anyone ever seen this in a room owned/decorated by a man?

I'm wondering if this is a message mostly aimed at/appreciated by women.

The 2009 version:
http://www.threadless.com/print/1626/Now_panic_and_freak_out_Print

Do we know this poster was well received during WWII?

Our reactions could be exactly the same now as then.

Whose to say British citizens weren't sick to death of seeing that thing plastered on every available surface?

www.thebitterfoodie.blogspot.com

I'm also really tired of American hipster bloggers using the Queen's English:

"Whilst perusing the latest sublime designs of my favourite Austin clothier..."

So gross and affected.

www.thebitterfoodie.blogspot.com

I just had a visceral reaction not unlike the one I had in 7th grade when someone who imagined themselves cooler and more important than me told me that my Girbaud shirt was out of style.

And guess what? By 10th grade I'd stopped caring what those people think, and I'm a much happier person for it.

Now please excuse me while I place an order with Barter Books.

We have them at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19182238 I happen to like them very much.

I love that poster and have the red one in my kitchen. For all of you haters out there, I have five words for you:

Keep Calm and Carry On.

"Every time I see this poster, I just get angry at a government telling it's citizens to keep calm and carry on whilst being bombed. Maybe I should make a "Rise Up and Overthrow" poster."

I found this thread as a result of reading another blog and I have to say that as an Englishwomen, I'm really quite offended by this attitude. Maybe that's the fundamental difference between now and 1936. We didn't all think like spoiled children who wanted the world to work their way.

We had no wish to "rise-up" as you so naively put it. Who would have replaced our government if we had done so? Hitler, most probably.

We didn't rise up, we just got on with it and endured - rationing, blackouts, air raids, our children being evacuated far away from us for years, our husbands, fathers, brothers away fighting in a war that we had no choice but to fight in.

All you could do was keep calm & carry on; get through each day, one day at a time, for six whole years, and maybe that's why we won our war. We weren't invaded, we weren't beaten, we hung in there and we believed that somehow everything would go back to the way it used to be and that our loved ones would come home safely to us.

I like the poster, it's part of my heritage and I'm proud of that. Just try to remember the context in which it was first designed.

I hate to follow what I find was a great post, but here is my two cents...

I own this poster in red (a welcome gift from my boss), and I still love it. The colour is so beautiful in real life. As a graphic designer, what I love most is how beautifully it is typeset. The message and historical meaning simply make me love it more. In my opinion, something like this:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat1_gallery_11&listing_id=14841410

is more of a cliche in terms of it being a spoof and being so terribly typeset (or lack thereof)

But that is just my two cents, so there you have it...