June 4th, 2007 | No Comments
London 2012 Olympics Branding Launched
Today sees the launch of the branding for the Olympic Games in London in 2012, and my initial reaction was what a mess their logo looks.
Based around the number “2012″ (thankfully this was confirmed by the official website, as it’s not that obvious), the logo has a sharp-edged, “broken glass” look to it, and in my opinion does not look that welcoming or friendly. There’s also just the slightest hint of a swastika in there too.
I know a brand is more than just a logo, and I’m all for their vision of the games being for everyone, which is reflected in the fact that the same shape is being used for the Olympics and Paralympics, but I think the emblem could have been designed far better. The original London Olympic bid logo, with a ribbon in the shape of the Thames (it is, right?), flowing in and out of the letters making up London, was far nice, in my opinion.
I’m not going to pretend that I’m a good logo designer, it’s just that of the 5 or so people who I know who have seen it, we all think it looks awful. The logo has been given four different colour shades, which will apparently change by year as we approach the games, which is quite a nice touch.
I guess now we’re just missing the inevitable annoying mascot which tend to grace these sorts of sporting event.
According to their press release:
The design brief was for an emblem that represented the four key ‘brand pillars’ of access, participation, stimulation and inspiration, culminating in the brand vision of ‘Everyone’s Games’.
So what do you think? Does it meet the brief? Have I missed the point?
Update: It looks like the reaction to the logo has been largely negative, according to the BBC, and there has been a massive reaction to it. There’s even an online petition to get the old logo back. It’s also worth checking out some of the hilarious suggestions for alternative logos.
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