Online& … and what? (Part 1 : The Noble Ampersand)

‘So, explain the company name, the logo ?’

In short, it’s all about the ampersand. The & is a glyph with origins dating to the first century CE, and also serves an essential technical role today in the syntax of URLs (web addresses).

I have always had a fondness – some might call it an obsession – for paper and beautiful handwriting. I think it began when my sixth-grade Latin class took a field trip to

At the time, they didn’t even have that excellent ampersand in their logo. But they did have an exhibit featuring amazing illuminated manuscripts.

I had never cast eyes upon anything like those precious works, created hundreds of years ago by anonymous hands. The artistry, the flourishes, the uniqueness of each character, the few words I could actually read and translate … it seemed like ancient magic captured on the page, yet it spoke to me passionately in the moment. While the other kids stampeded to the cafeteria I headed to the gift shop and spent my lunch money on six bookmarks depicting detail photos of some of the finest works, one of which included an elaborate ampersand. If my stomach grumbled during the bus ride home I didn’t notice because I was preoc­cupied with my bookmarks, my little pieces of a newly revealed treasure.

I still visit The Morgan every chance I get. And to this day I cannot pass up an exhibit of historic manuscripts anywhere. Books of hours, Muraqqa, Carolingian codices — I’m there.

So, what does this have to do with the Online& logo ? Like I said, it’s all about the ampersand. For two thousand years it has repre­sented the Latin conjunction et which means ‘and’. Though not always obvious in the ways it is rendered today, the ampersand is a combi­nation of the letters ‘e’ and ‘t’ :

It is funda­mental to Online& because:

• I am attracted to its aesthetic essence and myriad renderings.
• It reminds me of that long-ago day when I first first fell in love with ancient manuscripts, and inspires me to bring that passion to the digital world.
• We all think and work online. But too often we forget that what we put online should at least be balanced with what we deliver offline.  We must remember to work and relate on an human scale.

Online& seeks projects that aspire to some combi­nation of those elements : Beautiful design, exercise of expertise, yearning for knowledge. Whatever your goals – attracting new customers, retaining estab­lished clients, promoting your art, becoming a bizil­lionaire – you need an experienced, objective partner to make your business stand out, Online& … ?

Part 2 :  So why isn’t the site address Online&.com ?