Thursday, May 11, 2006
Why is This Blog in Black and White?
Admit it: that's what first caught your eye. After all, the Web is all about graphics, color, flash. It's so entertaining that we can easily get lost in it.
Perhaps that's the point. At some level the Web has perhaps become too entertaining. At some level, the medium threatens to become more important than the message. There's so much "stuff" to see and do and interact with that we forget why we're there.
And that's not what this blog is about. This blog is all about words. I don't want you to look at pretty graphics or fancy flash presentations; I want you to join me in thinking about words.
So it's in black and white.
Of course, you realize that I'm playing with you here. Of course the visuals matter: by being in black and white, this blog really stands out on the Web. Graphically, I'm contrasting the elegance of the font used in "beyond" with the plainness of the "Elements of Style" – in other words, beyond the elements of style is... elegance.
Which brings us back to words. Hopefully throughout this blog you'll learn something, disagree with me about something, be challenged to think about something, and all of it a step beyond what you were taught in English class.
So please join me... beyond the elements of style!
Perhaps that's the point. At some level the Web has perhaps become too entertaining. At some level, the medium threatens to become more important than the message. There's so much "stuff" to see and do and interact with that we forget why we're there.
And that's not what this blog is about. This blog is all about words. I don't want you to look at pretty graphics or fancy flash presentations; I want you to join me in thinking about words.
So it's in black and white.
Of course, you realize that I'm playing with you here. Of course the visuals matter: by being in black and white, this blog really stands out on the Web. Graphically, I'm contrasting the elegance of the font used in "beyond" with the plainness of the "Elements of Style" – in other words, beyond the elements of style is... elegance.
Which brings us back to words. Hopefully throughout this blog you'll learn something, disagree with me about something, be challenged to think about something, and all of it a step beyond what you were taught in English class.
So please join me... beyond the elements of style!
