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How To...Make Your Own Propaganda Poster

100708_sz_propaganda.jpg You may have noticed a few people in your life and on this site who own some version of the British World War II era "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster. Whether it be reprints, originals, or cheeky reimaginings, this damn slogan has been popping up all over the place -- search for the terms on Flickr and you'll find over 500 photos of the poster.

Well, now that we actually have a reason to keep calm and carry on (hello crash '08!) why not save a few bucks and make your own motivational poster. After the jump, we'll show you how to take advantage of Photoshop, free fonts, your printer, and some cheap frames to decorate your home with personal mottos like the one above...

 
 

100708_sz_overrated.jpg First up, check out free font site DaFont.com. People upload new fonts here daily that can be downloaded and used for free, as long as you're not using them for commercial purposes. We scored VTKS Revolt for our poster above.

Thank god for Google image search. We searched for stock ticker and found this rad illustration of Edison's ticker on Google Book Search. Because it was made pre-copyright laws we get to use it to our hearts content! We pasted everything together in Photoshop, found some nice blue construction paper we had lying around, cut it to size and fed it into our printer. The frame is Ikea's Ribba. Ta-da! A propaganda poster for the times.

We also made a little poster for our cat Dim Sum since her chubby brother is always trying to squeeze into her corner to steal some kibble. 100708_sz_dimsum.jpg The font is a standard font, Mesquite, found in Photoshop. The top layer, the black silhouette of the fence and cat, is actually a Halloween card from Martha Stewart Crafts. We simply measured the blank space we had to the left of the cat and printed our slogan on blue paper to fit right into the space. We cut everything to size and put it in a Muji frame. 100708_sz_dimsumcorner.jpg

You can easily fill up your whole house with these. If you make some make sure to email us your finished product. We just might spread your propaganda on the site.
photos: soniaz

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How to..., inspiration, artwork, printers, DIY, poster, motto, slogan

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Comments (9)

Good idea, but it's spelled "overrated."

posted by Joan A. on 2008-10-07 16:36:58
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I think they meant to say that the Stock Market ated too much and now it's full. Nom nom nom.

posted by MisterR on 2008-10-07 16:41:42
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of course. me write good. damn!

posted by lil' soso on 2008-10-07 16:43:00
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I like it! I'm gonna do a few right now!

posted by ekoshyun on 2008-10-07 17:02:04
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Oh yes, totally over ated. It ated muh cheezburger. NOM NOM NOM.

posted by stickyricemama on 2008-10-07 17:36:38
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You guys are so freakin' smart... I'm stealing your idea :)

And uhh... I don't know about anyone else, but I see it spelt as "overrated."

posted by sparkle on 2008-10-07 19:38:58
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sparkle - it's been fixed. Thanks!

posted by Joan A. on 2008-10-08 09:40:57
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1) I'm getting a little tired of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster. Yes, it's cute, but getting a bit ubiquitous for my tastes.

2) This is a totally fabulous idea.

3) As I've been saying a lot recently...we all need a little book with the words "Don't Panic" written in large, soothing letters on its cover. Perhaps I'll make a poster instead.

posted by EmmieB on 2008-10-08 10:42:20
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yes, I changed it. Was just too embarrassed to have my silly mistake spread across the web for longer than it was. I'm glad you like the idea! Can't wait to see what you guys come up with.

posted by lil' soso on 2008-10-08 10:54:38
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