New 2012 Olympic Logo

MrKawamura · June 2007

The logo is different to the established style of olympic logos. This is what is causing the fuss. The organisers and designers have leapt a long way from expectations of what an olympic logo should look like.

Most of the alternatives people have suggested on the BBC site are way to complicated to work as a logo - they are simply inpractical and could not be used effectively. This is a common mistake that untrained, poor graphic designers make, which is of little note except to say that the logos cannot then be "better" than the actual logo. What is notable is that every single one (other than the jokes) harks back to established and expected norms of form and concept. In short, they are predictable, safe and boring, two themes that would not have been stressed on the design brief, nor should they have been.

I am glad that they have created a challenging identity, usually these kind of designs don't get further than the initial sketch stage, remaining the designers undeveloped and sometimes best ideas. The logo has created a storm of attention, it is bold and suprising, and it is doing it's job very well.

pgscp · June 2007

So any old rubbish will do then? Seems we have missed the point about the reason for a logo, it is not just for effect, it should say something reasonable about our age and values, whereas a load of tea leaves does not say that much at all. Perhaps we should hold a competition amongst UK schools, bet they would do better than these so called designers.

I once saw good work from Ollins though. A booklet with strategy for Renault made up like a traditional French classically printed book called "A la Research du temps Renault", now that was good, the tea leaves are frankly boring, and lack any intellectual merit whatsever. A bit like contemporary art a complete con trick form beginning to end.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MrKawamura

The logo is different to the established style of olympic logos. This is what is causing the fuss. The organisers and designers have leapt a long way from expectations of what an olympic logo should look like.

Most of the alternatives people have suggested on the BBC site are way to complicated to work as a logo - they are simply inpractical and could not be used effectively. This is a common mistake that untrained, poor graphic designers make, which is of little note except to say that the logos cannot then be "better" than the actual logo. What is notable is that every single one (other than the jokes) harks back to established and expected norms of form and concept. In short, they are predictable, safe and boring, two themes that would not have been stressed on the design brief, nor should they have been.

I am glad that they have created a challenging identity, usually these kind of designs don't get further than the initial sketch stage, remaining the designers undeveloped and sometimes best ideas. The logo has created a storm of attention, it is bold and suprising, and it is doing it's job very well.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

mjones · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MrKawamura

The logo is different to the established style of olympic logos. This is what is causing the fuss. The organisers and designers have leapt a long way from expectations of what an olympic logo should look like.

Most of the alternatives people have suggested on the BBC site are way to complicated to work as a logo - they are simply inpractical and could not be used effectively. This is a common mistake that untrained, poor graphic designers make, which is of little note except to say that the logos cannot then be "better" than the actual logo. What is notable is that every single one (other than the jokes) harks back to established and expected norms of form and concept. In short, they are predictable, safe and boring, two themes that would not have been stressed on the design brief, nor should they have been.

I am glad that they have created a challenging identity, usually these kind of designs don't get further than the initial sketch stage, remaining the designers undeveloped and sometimes best ideas. The logo has created a storm of attention, it is bold and suprising, and it is doing it's job very well.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes [;)]

Oldknees · June 2007

It's absolutely rubbish. The thing about logos are they should be simple. Please let me design one. I really need to invoice œ400,000. What more doo-doo awaits us from the Olumpit Comitea.

œ400,000 divided by a weeks dole money how many people could have been fed with this amount of cash. Where is the Nation's sense of balance? Where is our honour? How many nurses has this cost us? Roll on the revolution.

slow is good too

billsters · June 2007

Why don't they just have one logo - the five rings are distinctive enough. They could just put with the city and the year below it, in the same style every year? It would save a packet that could be spent on the games, and would reinforce the global / perennial nature of the games, and I don't think anything would be lost.

btw I'm not generally a Philistine, and I am supportive of the Games in London, I just don't see the need for a really individual logo for each city, especially when it costs each host so much.

Canrider · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by mjones

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MrKawamura

The logo is different to the established style of olympic logos. This is what is causing the fuss. The organisers and designers have leapt a long way from expectations of what an olympic logo should look like.

Most of the alternatives people have suggested on the BBC site are way to complicated to work as a logo - they are simply inpractical and could not be used effectively. This is a common mistake that untrained, poor graphic designers make, which is of little note except to say that the logos cannot then be "better" than the actual logo. What is notable is that every single one (other than the jokes) harks back to established and expected norms of form and concept. In short, they are predictable, safe and boring, two themes that would not have been stressed on the design brief, nor should they have been.

I am glad that they have created a challenging identity, usually these kind of designs don't get further than the initial sketch stage, remaining the designers undeveloped and sometimes best ideas. The logo has created a storm of attention, it is bold and suprising, and it is doing it's job very well.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes [;)]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Hmm, I wonder if that story signifies what you think it does..

Given that the tale is of people wilfully blinding themselves to the obvious en masse, can we take it you're referring to the large numbers of people clamouring for 'safe, boring, predictable' logos being blind to the fact their preferred logo is dull and uninspiring?

Interesting tidbit: It would seem that extremely recently the IOC decided that future Games bid logos cannot contain the imagery of:

- the Olympic motto
- Olympic imagery (medals, torches)
- the Olympic symbol (until a bid is successful)

http://cbs2chicago.com/sports/local_story_136130810.html

"We will never win until the oil runs out or they invent hover cars - but then they may land on us." -- lardarse rider

Archcp · June 2007

Time was, they'd have had a competition on Blue Peter - it was good enough for sets of stamps, Radio Times covers and parts of the roof of the South Transept of York Minster. Total cost of the winner - probably a set of Art Materials, a trip to London and a badge...

If I had a baby elephant, it could help me clean the car. If I had a car.

Canrider · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">œ400,000 divided by a weeks dole money how many people could have been fed with this amount of cash. Where is the Nation's sense of balance? Where is our honour? How many nurses has this cost us? Roll on the revolution.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Oh, ffs, œ400,000 is chump change in terms of London. You'd do better being het up about how much is being spent on the war, or on servicing the œ571,800,000,000 debt.

"We will never win until the oil runs out or they invent hover cars - but then they may land on us." -- lardarse rider

andyoxon · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Canrider

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by mjones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes [;)]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Hmm, I wonder if that story signifies what you think it does..

Given that the tale is of people wilfully blinding themselves to the obvious en masse, can we take it you're referring to the large numbers of people clamouring for 'safe, boring, predictable' logos being blind to the fact their preferred logo is dull and uninspiring?

Interesting tidbit: It would seem that extremely recently the IOC decided that future Games bid logos cannot contain the imagery of:

- the Olympic motto
- Olympic imagery (medals, torches)
- the Olympic symbol (until a bid is successful)

http://cbs2chicago.com/sports/local_story_136130810.html

"We will never win until the oil runs out or they invent hover cars - but then they may land on us." -- lardarse rider
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The Emperors new clothes occurred to me too. The analogy doesn't go too far, but, Canrider, I thought that the 'invisible quality' was that seen only by the Olympic committee, because...well who knows?

An online public competition for a new (free) logo is what is needed now.

--- Beware of 'all things being equal' - because very often they are not. ---

Canrider · June 2007

Except the story of the clothes is that the emperor is told that only smart people can see them. So no one wants to admit they're stupid, and plays along until the kid speaks up.

Here we've got most people going on about how terrible the logo is and how great the spontaneous alternatives are. The Emperor's Clothes was brought up as a response to one of the few posts pointing out that the alternatives are rubbish from a design point of view. Ergo, I'm cheekily wondering if the majority opinion is deluding itself that the Emperor (the alternative logos) have no clothes (are boring, safe designs). [:)]

"We will never win until the oil runs out or they invent hover cars - but then they may land on us." -- lardarse rider

Flying_Monkey · June 2007

I loved the response from the designers, which was that this was all the London Olympic committee's fault for not 'promoting' the logo effectively. In other words, they wanted more spent on convincing us is was great, instead of doing something great. And I am sorry, MrKawamura, but a 'challenging identity' is design bullshit for unconvincing crap. I work with enough professionals in this area to have seen this! I've got to say there is no profession more full of shit than advertising, marketing, branding - whatever you call it. The term 'creativity' is utterly devalued by its application in these areas... combine it with 'consultancy' and you have the death whimper of civilization.

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety

Gary Askwith · June 2007

An unusually (and refreshing) forthright post from FM there folks

Who greased the fence[?][;)]

Economic Growth; as dead as a Yangtze River dolphin....

mjones · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Flying_Monkey

I loved the response from the designers, which was that this was all the London Olympic committee's fault for not 'promoting' the logo effectively. In other words, they wanted more spent on convincing us is was great, instead of doing something great. And I am sorry, MrKawamura, but a 'challenging identity' is design bullshit for unconvincing crap. I work with enough professionals in this area to have seen this! I've got to say there is no profession more full of shit than advertising, marketing, branding - whatever you call it. The term 'creativity' is utterly devalued by its application in these areas... combine it with 'consultancy' and you have the death whimper of civilization.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Thank you FM, you have saved me the effort of writing a longer post!

My Emperor's clothes reference was flippant, and no doubt flawed as an analogy; however I was responding to the rather patronising attitude towards the ignorant 'untrained' public who are unable to comprehend the greater truth that only the marketing professional elite can see. How dare the uninformed public prefer naive imagery reflecting the traditions of a 100 year old publicly funded event!

Oldknees · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Canrider

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">œ400,000 divided by a weeks dole money how many people could have been fed with this amount of cash. Where is the Nation's sense of balance? Where is our honour? How many nurses has this cost us? Roll on the revolution.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Oh, ffs, œ400,000 is chump change in terms of London. You'd do better being het up about how much is being spent on the war, or on servicing the œ571,800,000,000 debt.

"We will never win until the oil runs out or they invent hover cars - but then they may land on us." -- lardarse rider
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I'm not a greedy man. Just send me the œ400,000 and in return I will send you a logo a thousand times better that the current heap of doo-doo. And yes I do get het up about the other bills AND the philosophy that œ400K is not much money in the scheme of things. It is. And for some stupid s*d to spend this amount so recklessly for so little makes me feel a little disappointed.

slow is good too

MrKawamura · June 2007

The logo does, in fact, say something meaningful, it communicates through stylistic code. Judging by the reactions so far this has already prooved much more powerful than, say, a silhouette of a corporate skyscraper, or any such traditional representational imagery would have been. I'm not suggesting that an untrained public are unable to comprehend the logo, it is because everybody understands the code of the logo that they are upset. It breaks the mould, just as some athletes will do in five years time, whether they are making new world records, or simply turning up against the odds. Very fitting.

As for the price, do we know exactly what this "œ400,000" has bought? People are talking as if were just for a logo study, which makes it sound outrageous. I could be wrong, but I would guess it is for the whole graphic identity, which by the time the games has finished will have been a massive undertaking.

gordycp · June 2007

I think it is brilliant - particularly the way it can be used in different colours and with other logos or images in and around it.

Honenstly, it is fabulous and we'll soon get used to it.

Can nobody do anything in this country without getting slagged off?

cuddy duck · June 2007

here here!

There are 9 million bicycles in Beijing. But no cyclists: that's one thing we can be sure of....

MrKawamura · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by gordy

I think it is brilliant - particularly the way it can be used in different colours and with other logos or images in and around it.

Honenstly, it is fabulous and we'll soon get used to it.

Can nobody do anything in this country without getting slagged off?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Right on. The pink and yellow logo that has been slagged is not the final product - it has been made clear that the logo will evolve - much of the output will be screen based and the logo lends itself very well to this, and as we see the logo evolve during the long build-up to the games, the initial shock will fade and the true quality of the design will become clear to all!

Bravo, Seb!

New 2012 Olympic Logo

Comments

Categories