From ‘Focus on Faith’, Stretton Focus, August 2012
I designed the logo above for this column in 1988 on my new Apple Macintosh computer. Information technology has been behind a lot of change in the last 25 years and has helped Stretton Focus evolve into a radically different magazine from its early incarnation. The graphic capability of my new Macintosh opened up interesting opportunities – the logo was one result. Focus has used it for nearly 25 years so I thought it was time to reflect on how well it works.
I drew a church in a box. The lettering “Focus on Faith” is a computer font, lacking individuality, but with soft curves which draw the reader to the image of the church. The church drawing is quite primitive. Like all 2-dimensional icons the meaning of what readers see is based on their own experience. But this church has a hidden characteristic – like the text, the walls and roof are drawn by prescribed formulae in the computer software. The final element of the logo is the box itself, separating the title and icon from the important words which lie outside the box.
The mediaeval church used boxes and prescribed formulae to define faith. Thinking outside the box was heretical, and could endanger one’s life. The term ‘heresy’ is still used by some to label ideas outside their church’s box. Repression never discouraged liberal thinking however, exemplified perhaps by the non-conformist founders of today’s United Reformed Church. The growth of diverse churches around the world is one result of liberal thinking about faith but churches, old or new, all have their own boxes.
A side-effect of social change in our better educated society is the appearance of more independent thinking about faith which does not reflect established dogma. Even so such ideas are not as widely debated as many of us would hope, despite technology making repression impossible. This Stretton Focus column has worked well over the years, debating issues and fresh ideas which help us think about our faith. So the graphic remains relevant. It is a quiet reminder that faith has a framework, but that we should also be open to the challenge of thinking outside our boxes.
Roger Wilson
