The Evolution of an Internet Meme

See the full story re this Keep Calm and Carry On diagram, and find a high res version (thanks to David Simpkin of P&G Wells for bringing it to my attention). In case you’re wondering, an internet meme: “The term Internet meme is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke.” (Wikipedia)

“At first I LOLed, and then I was like “huh.” How did we get here? How did this meme evolve from stoic World War II propaganda to hilarious Richard Dawkins jokes?

And thus, the phylogenetic tree of “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON” posters was born:”

Inside Out: The BBC

Today I’ve been talking to the team from ‘Inside Out, North East‘ re: a programme they are making about the Keep Calm and Carry On phenomenon. Every time someone contacts me about the story, I find it fascinating that it continues to roll on (even as we’re officially exiting the recession, I believe!), and I’m looking forward to a trip to the Imperial War Museum for some filming.

Ruth Gill

Ruth Gill, the daughter of a clergyman, produced ‘elegant’ advertising (particularly for packaging). She trained in advertising as well as design, and became art director at Colman, Prentice & Varley, Ltd. in 1954. She studied sculpture and design at the Chelsea School of Art, at a period when Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore and Milner Gray were teaching there. She joined a small agency, John Tait and Partners in 1940, to work with Hans Schleger, and Mary Gowing, who were handling the ATS recruiting campaigns. Gill became involved in the recruiting-advertising for the ATS in 1940 and 1941, persuading women to take part in a ‘life and death affair’, involving night-time visits to compositors and foundaries, ‘all-night briefings at the Ministry of Information’, and altering advertising according to response. She became art director once the ATS advertising was complete.

Information collated from: Gowing, M., ‘The Creative Mind in Advertising: Ruth Gill’, Art and Industry, Vol. 63, No. 375, September 1957, pp.84-89.