Monday, December 21, 2009

New Temporary Masthead

As many of you will know, the Vatican recently announced that it wished to protect the names and symbols of the Roman pontiff, including the papal office generally.

Immediately, my mind turned to the NLM masthead which, for the past couple of years, has included a wonderful drawing of Benedict XVI's coat of arms -- though with the tiara instead of the mitre found in his official arms. Of course, the use of these arms helped to highlight the idea of a "Benedictine (new) liturgical movement"; this made manifest sense given that it was Benedict (as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) who helped to popularize this idea of a new liturgical movement, and who as reigning pontiff has made the sacred liturgy such an important aspect of his pontificate.

For the moment, I have altered this drawing to now include a cross, and to capture the connection with St. Benedict (and by extension Benedict XVI himself), as well as our other patron, John Henry Cardinal Newman, I have included an image of St. Benedict and a heart -- which was such a characteristic aspect of Newman's arms and motto.

While I am certain many will miss the arms of Benedict XVI, I must confess that this has provided an opportunity to pursue an idea I have long pondered: namely, the development of a truly original NLM design, or "branding", which can be placed in the masthead and elsewhere.

To that end, I would like to encourage our artistically inclined readers to send in their sketches and design ideas for an NLM logo and submit them to me in email.

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