I've just been reminded of what Twitter does when their service goes down. They post a picture of the so-called "fail whale", carried aloft by eight wee birds.Their birds are a bit darker and a bit more effectual than the one from the Lib Dems' logo, but it's still an extraordinary coincidence that Gilbert the bottlenose whale decided to beach himself outside just as their conference imploded. I recommend Ann Treneman's excellent diary on the subject and Steve Bell's cartoon.
In case anyone feels I've been unduly critical of the Liberals this week, it's Labour conference next week. There's plenty of love to go around.
James, on the subject of very sneaky uses of visual branding styles, isn't this a pip?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8249411.stm