Friday, April 04, 2008

Festive Friday: Our Next Logo?


Today the peace symbol turns fifty. Happy birthday, peace symbol!

Attentive reader that you are, you will have noticed that this very symbol forms an important part of our In the Middle logo: the visual pax vobiscum is superimposed over a cloudless earth, where it suggests an askew medieval T-O map (conveniently placed to the right for readers who prefer bludgeoning over suggestiveness with their symbols).

Today's festive Friday question, to which we encourage all readers to respond: if we were to redesign our somewhat dated logo (I believe that I cobbled it together -- in Microsoft Word!! -- more than a year ago), what words and/or image would you suggest to capture the spirit of this blog? Please post your comments below ... and if you'd like to try your hand at a new logo for us, feel free to email an image file to me [jeffreyjeromecohen@gmail] and I'll place it up for you. No LOL Cats, please (though LOL wombats are possibly acceptable).

7 comments:

This old world is a new world said...

Personally, I can't design my way out of a paper bag, but I can't help noticing that your cloudless earth is also an antipodean-less one...

Jeffrey Cohen said...

True enough, and for that I apologize. Or may be it means we simply cede the entirety of that part of the world to your blog, Stephanie.

On the positive side, at least it isn't an earth that only shows North America, as so many do ...

This old world is a new world said...

That's so ... and your competition does at least concede the possibility of a wombat.

According to Michael Alexander (Medievalism, pp. 141-2), DG Rossetti had a real thing for wombats. One of Rossetti's acolytes, Val Prinsep, said, "We copied his [Rossetti's] very way of speaking. Wombats were the most beautiful of God's creatures. Medievalism was our beau idéal."

And there is a very lovely self-portrait of DGR weeping over the death of a wombat, with its dear little feet curled up.

Does In the Middle need an animal mascot? Should Karl choose?

Karl Steel said...

Does In the Middle need an animal mascot? Should Karl choose?

If I choose, it's a Cynocephalus (the touching, talking ones from the Hereford Mappamundi please). Either that or Husdent, from Beroul.

If Jeffrey chooses, it's the half man/half cow from Gerald.

If Mary Kate chooses, it's a Donestre, I bet.

Eileen: maybe not a hybrid, maybe 'just' a cat, but whatever it is, it'll certainly be something poetic!

Jeffrey Cohen said...

It's interesting, Karl: Stephanie suggested animals, and you provided monsters (though you did get the patron saints of each us pretty well!)

Well, maybe a cat isn't a monster. But 3 out of 4.

Eileen Joy said...

A cat???!!!??? Please tell me you're kidding. [Yes, I love cats, *and* dogs, but still . . . .]

But I will say this: I can't get that image of Rosetti weeping over the body of a dead wombat with its little feet curling upward. It really has nothing to do with ITM, but oh, I love it so.

Karl Steel said...

A cat???!!!??? Please tell me you're kidding.

I'm not kidding. I'm trying. Okay: how about...a goat? C'mon, help me out here.