Paper Monitor
09:33 UK time, Wednesday, 7 April 2010
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press
It's the first full blown, full colour election campaign in newspaper history. For generations politics has blazed a trail over the press with its multi-hued approach to branding. While Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems proudly touted their luxuriant party colours, newspapers were largely reduced to a monochromatic imitation, deploying shades of grey.
But in the five years since the last national poll, nearly all the papers have gone over to full colour across all pages, presenting a thrilling palette of opportunity for election branding. So what do we have:
Almost all the papers consider it necessary to cater for the scatty constituency of their readerships by reminding them what year we are in. The Daily Mail (top picture) and Independent (below it), may be philosophically poles apart but exhibit a startling synergy of thought using just the red, blue and yellow of the main parties with the words "Election 2010".
The Sun (next one down), which has thrown its weight behind the Tories in this campaign, does however subtly acknowledge the potential of the smaller parties by augmenting the three-party tricolour with a dash of grey.
The Guardian, meanwhile, seems to be laughing in the face of this rainbow alliance, opting for a knowingly understated gun-metal grey - or "pigeon" in the colour terminology of one distinguished paint manufacturer.
No such reserve at the Daily Mirror which offers a colour and logo medley. Rose for Labour, tree for Tory, griffin phoenix for Lib Dem. There's a similar vibe at the Daily Star although someone seems to have forgotten to tell them that the Tories have changed their emblem.
Finally, we're left with the Times, Daily Express and Financial Times which all seem to be pulling the equivalent of an election sulk with zero branding of any sort.
The 
