ME & EU: Postcards from Post-EU Britain is an acclaimed project initiated by designers Nathan Smith and Sam T Smith in 2016 as a creative response to the outcome of the ‘Brexit’ referendum.
On 23rd June 2016, 51.9% of UK citizens voted to withdraw from the European Union, popularly dubbed ‘Brexit’. The weeks following the UK referendum brought a global sense of division and disconnect as people evaluated their response and as voters of both ‘remain’ and ‘leave’ imagined the possibilities of a post-Europe Britain. ME & EU is one such response.
Authored by the UK creative community, ME & EU took the humble yet powerful postcard as a means to re-engage the United Kingdom with the European Union in the wake of ‘Brexit’. At a time of introspection ME & EU aspired to look outwards, to reach beyond island shores and reconnect. And as the British government formally triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, 116 postcards were mailed out across all 27 remaining EU countries.
The ME & EU postcards provided an intimate medium for individuals to express their message visually: many are quiet, personal, and heartfelt, others are dissenting and defiant. But together they form a powerful and passionate voice with an underpinning spirit of humour and positivity. Collectively, they’re a visual narrative of a country in transition.
Sam T Smith stated, “The referendum result made us feel really disconnected, not just from the EU but from our own country and we wanted to do something about this. The climate felt like whoever shouted loudest would be heard, but a postcard is actually more of a quieter form, but no less profound and impactful”.
Authored by the UK creative community, ME & EU took the humble yet powerful postcard as a means to re-engage the United Kingdom with the European Union in the wake of ‘Brexit’. At a time of introspection ME & EU aspired to look outwards, to reach beyond island shores and reconnect. And as the British government formally triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, 116 postcards were mailed out across all 27 remaining EU countries.
The ME & EU postcards provided an intimate medium for individuals to express their message visually: many are quiet, personal, and heartfelt, others are dissenting and defiant. But together they form a powerful and passionate voice with an underpinning spirit of humour and positivity. Collectively, they’re a visual narrative of a country in transition.
