Unnecessary Umlauts
The umlaut is a diacritic mark used to represent a sound shift in spoken language [see: wikipedia:umlaut] It is usually represented by a pair of dots above the affected letter. In German you often see it used in the the following characters Ö, Ä, Ë. Words like schön (nice) in German are sometimes written with an extra 'e' as in 'schoen' to represent the umlaut where the umlauted character is not available. It is perhaps because of this German / European use of the umlaut that is has achieved a cool status in design, music and social networking.
The umlaut is now appearing, unnecessarily, in many modern trademarks and names. None of these words actually require an umlaut to represent any vocal sound shift, rather it is purely an aid to design. Blogger and designer ultamagnus79 also noticed this and has used the umlaut device to great effect in his visual experiments. I took the 'graffiti' picture below in Horsham park and interestingly this example includes an umlaut over a letter 'g' with no pretence at following any rules of grammar, it is purely a fashionable adornment to the 'nothing ever matters' statement.
So, if you are a graphic designer, a member of a band looking for a name or the developer of a Web 2 style app or site, please consider the humble umlaut. It could add a 'street' element with yet an air of European sophistication to your product. Also, you do not have to learn German to use it properly; the old rules no longer apply.
Graffiti featuring umlauts
Bunker Bar logo featuring umlaut over the 'u'
Snatptu Logo with smiley umlaut
Motorhead logo with umlaut over the 'o'
Book Review: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig: ISBN: 0-434-96050-0
This is more of a recommendation rather than a review. Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury(illustrations) have collaborated on a true comedy masterpiece. The book is basically the Three Little Pigs turned on its head with hysterical comic effect. Despite possibly aimed more at putting a smile on adult faces, the topsy-turvy nature of the story, compared to the original, should not be lost on children as young as 4 or 5.
Although the violence of the story is updated, with mentions of dynamite and 'the pig went and fetched his pneumatic drill and smashed the house down', do not let this put your off. There is an unexpectedly happy ending. The Penguin version is actually far more violent with 2 pigs being eaten by the wolf and the wolf himself is boiled to death in a cauldron.
