MAY 15, 2020

 A rainbow sign hanging in an Edinburgh window. Image via Flickr.

Victoria and Albert Museum in London has asked its fellow Britons to submit homemade posters and signs created during the COVID-19 lockdown. Seen hung in windows around the world, these signs range from children’s rainbow drawings to official notices from business. The V&A intends to add a selection of these posters into its national collection.

Brendan Cormier, a design curator at the V&A, acknowledged that the signs were ubiquitous. “We could be deluged,” he said. “There is also the risk with a public callout that you don’t get anything. I don’t think you ever get quite the number you’re hoping for. We’re asking for patience from people … it might take us some time to sort through them and decide which are the most useful and relevant for us to take.”

The rainbow drawings celebrating NHS workers will be heading to the collection of the V&A Museum of Childhood, in Bethnal Green, which is set to reopen in 2022 following a £13-million ($16 million) renovation. The idea is that these signs have become a major way for us to communicate with the outside world as we all spend increasing amounts of time inside.

The museum opted to forgo a specific set of submission guidelines, and will allow the public to nominate which signs should be inducted. Submit pictures of signs by emailing them to homemadesigns@vam.ac.uk or sharing them on social media with #homemadesigns.