Perhaps it is a subtle salute to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote:
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.
In any case, I can tell you that the section headers in Sunday’s Courant are anything but consistent, so my little mind had plenty to do over the morning coffee besides contemplate my shadow.
My wife, who has a typographer’s eye, observes that each section topper in Sunday’s Courant has its own violation of the basic style. Arts, which used to be CTARTS (pronounced See Tarts”), has an orangish A and underline URL setting it apart, while the Living section has a blue lowercase “i” — the only lowercase letter in the collection, excluding the iTowns tab section.
Livesmart of course uses the check mark instead of a V, which makes it unique if you disregard the technique as just about the oldest typographical cliche in the book.
Sports is all caps, but with a blue O. Opinion is also all caps, but has no blue letters, not even an O.
CTNow retains the only CT prefix, set off by its blueness; and is the only section that also uses The Hartford Courant overline. (I’m guessing that this is a holdover from an earlier update.)
A mind as little as mine can only conclude that such consistent inconsistency is deliberate by the World’s Best Designed newspaper.
So next Sunday I plan to spend the morning putting all the sections in alphabetical order by section letter. That will give me a whole week to find “I.”
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Paul: I am pleased you spotlighted the graphic treatment. That’s the arena that most annoys me about the present paper–such jumpy, hysterical presentation. The core issue is that there is no ethos at all to the enterprise, no underlying mission.
Also, as I pointed out before, the consumer check mark design is similar to the logo of Price-Rite supermarkets.
Actually Linda, there is a mission — to inform. I’ve spent 12 hours a day the last couple of weeks doing that. So have most of my co-workers.
Heck, you might call that our ethos too.
I’m sure you’ll now find something else to piss and moan about.
If we’re not informing you, at least we’re irritating you.
Thank you,
Dave Owens
I may be old-fashioned, but I really do not like the word “piss” in written form.
That’s a cryin’ shame, Linda.
Try doing something other than pissing and moaning, then.
Dave Owens
Okay. Everybody’s had a couple shots. Game’s over.
Come on Paul, obviously some people have a lot of time on their hands and its entertaining.
Thanks, George.
I do have compassion for those still left on the staff. Also, awareness about the larger forces that have changed the industry.
That being said, there is still something notably haywire about the present Courant.
For months, this site has been almost nothing else but criticism.
Certainly, frank discussion should still go on.
Frank, fine.
Personal, not so fine.
As for this site being largely critical of The Courant, that would be my fault, I think, and I do not intend for it to be a bash-The-Courant arena. Unfortunately, The Courant is in a time of great change and turmoil, and, unlike the government, has no established watchdog to reflect on its failures and successes. I offer whatever criticism I do in the same spirit that The Courant comments on the government. That is, in the hope that an additional perspective will inspire those inside to steer away from some of the rocks in the shoal. I do not think of it as fun, but as my obligation as a longtime member of the journalistic community to give a voice to some of my colleagues who cannot comment without fear of reprisal.
I’m truly glad the passionate Mr. Owens was persuaded to remain at the Courant, but part of me wishes we could have seen the kind of job he’d be doing as a police dispatcher … can you imagine?