The New Olympic Logo – London 2012

We are in the business of not only picking needles from haystacks, but deciding if the needle looks cool once we find it. So far be it from us to point fingers at a fellow logo designer, -but this is a bit nuts.

The new Olympic logo rings in at just about 400,000GBP, which equates to $796,712 US. Which is fine if it’s cool… Unfortunately it’s not…

Here are some quotes about it:

“a puerile mess, an artistic flop and a commercial scandal”
– Stephen Bayley (designer)

“I feel it is an embarrassment and portrays our country in the worst possible way.”
– Jonathan Ellis (petition signer)

“This is a truly innovative brand logo that graphically captures the essence of the London 2012 Olympic Games”
– Jacques Rogges (IOC Chair)

“When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life.”
– Tony Blair

So as you can see, views are quite polarized… although they shouldn’t be.

A quick brainstorming exercise on an Olympic logo might reveal words like:

• Majesty
• Challenge
• Sport
• Tradition
• History
• Triumph
• Humanity

Not sure any of those words can be exemplified in the new logo…

When logos are put under world-wide scrutiny they’re usually watered down to please everyone. They’re really expensive because of all of the focus groups, and committees. This one defies a lot of convention, (which is good) but it does it with no regard for the brand (which is never good).