Tell me that’s not REALLY the London Olympics logo…
The official 2012 London Olympic games logo was unveiled Monday:
The pieces form the number 2012. See?
Me, neither. Nor do folks in the U.K., who are reportedly less than thrilled with this graphic debacle.
The BBC story reports:
The brand, designed by Wolff Ollins, has been targeted at the young people the organisers hope will get involved.
It is a deliberate change from previous Olympic logos, which often feature an image from the city.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: “This is an iconic brand that sums up what London 2012 is all about - an inclusive, welcoming and diverse Games that involves the whole country.
“It takes our values to the world beyond our shores, acting both as an invitation and an inspiration.
“This is not just a marketing logo, but a symbol that will become familiar, instantly recognisable and associated with our Games in so many ways during the next five years.”
OK, I get it now: Young people are attacted to ugly logos.
More mirth from the story:
Prime Minister Tony Blair said: “We want London 2012 not just to be about elite sporting success.
“When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life.
Ever helpful, the BBC has set up a gallery of alternatives proposed by readers. Not surprisingly, most propose using various London landmarks in the logo. Like this one:
Or this:
And then, there is this — which I’m not sure is much of an improvement over the real logo:
I really like this one, though:
Read about the new logo here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/6718243.stm
View the web gallery of alternate proposals:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6719747.stm
BBC readers’ comments on the logo (scroll down a bit):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A23431826
Oh, and for the sake of balanced reporting — here’s the logo for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Is this any better?
Yeah — y’know, I think it is. At least it’s attractive.
June 4th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
I like that last London logo as well - although the tagline “we’ve got the Olympics in us” sounds like a dirty joke….
June 5th, 2007 at 10:21 am
One of those logos (No. 2) looks like a bad MS Paint job. I don’t mind the runner (No. 3), but holy cow, the official logo is too ugly for a teenager to wear on a T-shirt from the mall. To quote a random teen: “Ewwwww.”
June 5th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Heh bebeh. . .you got some Olympics in ya? Would you LIKE some??
*shudder*
That is the coolest logo, though, with the runner as second place.
I’m curious about the Beijing one — I wonder if the runner logo resembles another Chinese character, if it’s some sort of inside Chinese visual cue. . .
June 5th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
The original London bid logo was great-a ribbon in the shape of the river Thames. The Vancouver 2010 bid logo was great as well, but the current Vancouver logo uses an arctic indian design that has nothing to do with British Columbia. So there is a history of making some sweet bid logos and then making the offical logo absolutely horrible. This London one takes the cake though. At least the Beijing logo is readable-that 2012 and color scheme are absolutely **** poor.
June 5th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
[…] « Tell me that’s not REALLY the London Olympics logo… […]
June 5th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
The story on this logo just keeps getting more and more weird.
The AP reported Wednesday:
> LONDON (AP) — An animated display of
> London’s jigsaw-style 2012 Olympics
> logo, which has drawn an unfavorable
> public response, was removed from an
> official Web site Tuesday following
> concern it could trigger epileptic
> seizures.
>
> Epilepsy Action, a British health
> charity, said 10 people had
> complained about the animation and
> some had suffered seizures from
> watching images depicting a diver
> plunging into a pool.
>
> The Olympic group said it has taken
> steps to remove the animation from
> the Web site and will now re-edit
> the film.
Read the story here:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-06-05-417557402_x.htm
Thanks, Josh Crutchmer at SportsDesigner for posting this:
http://sportsdesigner.blogs.com/1/2007/06/logo_a_la_mode.html
June 6th, 2007 at 5:11 am
really like the london one
it also somehow reminds me of the london underground map - a really iconic piece of design
June 8th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Oooh, that one with all the circles IS nice! And it’s a bit reminiscent of a Tube map, in that sleek, colorful sort of way, as Steve noted above.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:22 am
Why don’t they pay me to create a logo? I can do a way better job than that, as I’m sure a 5-year-old probably could. That thing is ugly, and I wouldn’t have seen the “2012″ unless someone told me it was there.