London 2012 olympic logo disaster
What were they thinking?
Today saw the launch of London’s 2012 olympic logo. I read the following through a logo article on the BBC:
The jagged emblem, based on the date 2012, comes in a series of shades of pink, blue, green and orange and will evolve in the run-up to the Games.
It’s supposed to be the numbers, 2012, designed to appeal to today’s internet generation. According to Sebastian Coe, chairman of London’s 2012 organising committee:
“It is an invitation to take part and be involved.”
Well, to be honest I don’t think it’s very inviting.
The brand was designed by the people at Wolff Olins. Given that they were chosen as the designers over a year ago, I find the results disappointing.
Quite a few others are showing their dislike of the new logo too. Super.
Here’s what the British public think of the logo.
I’ve read that the London 2012 logo cost £400,000. Does anyone have any confirmation of this?
What’s your opinion? Did Wolff Olins get it right or wrong?
Related posts on this site
113 spot-on reader comments to “London 2012 olympic logo disaster”
What are your thoughts?
Simply fill in the form below. All comments are moderated so you may experience a short delay before your comment appears. Comments should be respectful of other voices in the discussion. I reserve the right to edit or delete comments at my discretion.
Maybe it’s just a joke, I sincerely hope it is…
It’s amazing how bad the logo is. Given the huge reaction that you have already linked to it seems so strange that this ever got further than an initial doodle on paper.
There are already nearly 4000 names on this petition to object
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/12539.html
Its dire, best review of it so far is on the Devils Kitchen blog. Wish it was a joke, alas with New Labour it is their view of the UK.
This looks terrible, looks like a kids competition entry to me.
Opinions can run riot when it comes to logo design…that is one of the aspects which makes it so difficult!
But I have to agree with the “opinions” from your other comments …this logo is terrible. The 2012 number representation is just awful and “London” and the olympic rings just seem incidental.
I think my 9 year old could have done better!
David, I don’t know what you’re talking about. This logo totally encompasses the punk rock spirit London has been feeling since The Clash and The Sex Pistols made their debut. I think the 1981 London Olympics will be a big success.
Oh, wait, it’s the 2012 Olympics. Sorry, this logo sucks.
I hadn’t seen that petition but it’s no surprise how popular it has already become.
For the China olympics did Beijing revert from a proposed logo design under public pressure?
Hopefully London will.
Mirko, fido, thanks for your thoughts.
Ian,
You almost had me going there. ;)
It would be interesting though to hear from someone with positives. Anyone?
I was gonna write an article on this… you’re right, it’s absolutely shocking!
Usually these things are quite subjective but the public’s response on this one does seem to be a unaminous “it’s bloody crap!”
Not sure a logo design on it’s own would cost £400k, but as part of a wider contract to implement the brand over a number of years £400k would seem quite cheap!
It’s rank.
The worst part is certainly how much we’re going to see of it everywhere as the events draw nearer.
Oooh, snap! ;-)
I just saw this on the BBC, and was driven to post about it immediately which is not like me at all.
It really is truly awful, and if it’s only £400k I’ll be surprised. The contempt for the people of this country by our politicians reaches new depths every day.
Are we safe from the crippling debt of the Olympics up here David? Or will only independence achieve that? (I’m not even going to go down the potential pitfalls of that course either….)
That is horrible. There is nothing about it that speaks sports. I am sad. The Olympics are something I really enjoy every 4 years and this just doesn’t give a good first impression.
I think the worst thing is what it is saying to the rest of the world about the standard of design in the UK. This for me is the single most unforgiveable thing about this logo.
I’m hoping that bit about it ‘evolving’ as it gets closer to the games is a huge bit of it. Like this might slowly morph into a decent logo as the Olympics get closer. Still, a changing logo kinda hurts with the recognition of the whole thing.
Who knows.
he he it looks like a 5 year old kid drew it with crayons :D
I’m waiting for the animation to start, I thought it was about to morph into something else.
I’ve been looking at it for a few minutes now, trying to see something in it that we’re maybe missing. My theory is, they’ve got their inspiration from some IQ Test or the like.
The British design community is among the worlds elite. At least I though it was, it’s designed by Wolf Olins and I feel ashamed.
Possibly the biggest major logo disaster EVER.
NO redeeming features.
Hated by EVERYBODY around the globe (I have had 3 emails from friends already and they all thought it was shit.)
I actually feel really angry about it!
On a second note, there is no way a design agency got £400,000 for the logo. Perhaps for the implimentations in all aspects, guidelines, stationery etc plus artwork yes, but DEFINATELY not for just the logo.
ICK! I can’t believe that was selectted! If they were really going for an “Internet Generation” inspired look, why not go with the web 2.0-ish glassy, rounded logo style….
Yuk. :)
Is it April 1st again already? This has to be a joke.
Did you watch the first video on the official website? Wow… bad 80’s music video! And I see I’m not the only one reminded of the 80’s with this logo campaign, like the early days of MTV.
However, to take this design seriously, do you think it’s possible for us to set aside our initial disgust with the logo and analyze it the way we would any other design? It creates a pretty intense emotional reaction, but is it really a poorly designed logo? Why? How did they meet/fail with their objectives?
These are the goals that I found when I read about their reasons for this logo:
1. “everyone’s Games, everyone’s 2012”
2. “invitation to take part and be involved”
3. “reach out to young people”
4. “inspired to either take part in the many sports…or inspired to achieve personal goals”
5. “welcome the world”
6. “dynamic, modern and flexible”
7. “visual icon, instantly recognizable”
8. “reflecting London’s commitment to hosting a truly integrated Paralympic Games”
My critiques of the logo and how it relates to the goals:
1. I think the marketing campaign will accomplish this goal more than the logo.
2. I don’t feel invited. The jaggy edges are prickly, the intense colors are alarming.
3. Does it reach out to young people? Perhaps they went to MySpace for inspiration? Oops. And it’s suppose to be everyone’s Games. Why are they specifically targeting young people? I don’t think the senior citizens will find this logo very attractive.
4. That’s a nice goal, but the logo doesn’t do it. I don’t think that second video (with the personal achievements) has anything to do with the logo. It could’ve been any logo. I do think it’s a really inspiring movie and goal, though, and it’s good they want to get people involved in this way, but we are critiquing the logo, not the campaign.
5. Again, not very welcoming/inviting. And did they take other cultures into consideration? Are there any people groups that might be offended by this logo? I’m not sure myself, but I wonder if they took the time to research the meaning of color, shape and such in other countries. They had plenty of time, after all.
6. Dynamic? Such a vague term. I hate it when people say “make it dynamic.” What does that mean?? Modern? We’ve already established it looks like it’s from the 80’s. Flexible? I suppose that is yet to be seen.
7. Instantly recognizable, yes, but in a more infamous sort of way.
8. I think it’s very noble and long awaited that they integrated the Paralympic games, but does this logo show that? The only thing I see is that they used the same logo for both games.
I think what I’m looking for is a basis for this hatred of the logo. Anyone else’s thoughts?
Yeah, as Alex mentioned, that word ‘evolving’ makes me think this isn’t the final design. However, it was a very bad move to release this without a “Under Construction” sign attached.
When I first saw that logo, I had to quickly check the date - thought it might be April 1st.
I know that the Olympic Games is pretty emotive, but this logo brought tears to my eyes.
What is going on with that. What a shambles! Its only redeeming feature is…um…–nothing comes to mind!
Looks like the profile of an old man carrying a crushed cardboard box for a rucksack - that’s it: it’s the “Tramp Olympics”…silly me.
I’ll come back later when I’ve calmed down (and when I’ve found my rose-tinted spec’s).
David, if you write a post entitled “Worst Logo Design of the Millennium”, I’m pre-submitting this one - I’ll take the winning submission prize now, thanks.
Got to go…in search of a sick bag…
And just one more thing, while I’m on a roll:
“It is an invitation to take part and be involved.”– an invitation to what? The “ZOR”? More like an invitation to the bathroom.
Thanks for posting this one, David; it helped relieve a little stress.
This is geared towards screenagers? my ass, it’s academic at best and they completely over-thought the design. It looks like an animal squatting down.
As for releasing it early, let’s hope the firm is using us as a case-study and evaluating our reactions. All-though, I wouldn’t give them that much credit. But it would be cool if the world voted on the final design. It would certainly be a great PR stunt.
I’m still not sure why the logo is constantly redesigned in the first place. A bit redundant considering. Whatever happened to the concept of the Olympics? This is poo-poo.
[…] David Airey asks what were they thinking? […]
I’ve tried my hardest to offer some positive thoughts about the logo on my site, linked to via my name.
My opinion hasn’t changed drastically from my first post, but given a few hours thinking about it I don’t dislike it as much as I did.
I can see how they were aiming for a “Twenty-Twelve” youth vibe with the logo, but they missed by a mile!
The BBC has an article showing some alternative logo’s that people have been sending in:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6719747.stm
At least a couple of them are better than the one they chose and these guys have only spent a few minutes working at it. I might give it a try myself! ;-)
I love it … NOT.
Anyone notice that the 2, in 2000, is different than the 2 in 12?
Nobody in my studio even realized it’s 2012. Kind of like one of those WW2 boats painted with zig-zags to keep you from being able to focus on it, LOL.
My guess … a classic “design by commity” botch job.
Even worse than the one from last year’s world cup in Germany. ^^ Aaron makes some valid points, but all in all I am pretty sure the logo will be redesigned.
I could have done better than that when I was 16 during my GCSE’s!
Absolutely shocking. I saw this on TV in Australia today. Terrible.
And the animated version, geez, what were they thinking.
A complete disaster! The logo looks very 80s. There’s “pushing the envelope” and then there’s “pushing the envelope” to the point where it looks like trash, disconnecting your audience. I wish I could get paid that much money to do a hack job like that haha.
Well, considering that the Mayan calendar predicts that year as when a new cycle begins, (some say the end of the world; I don’t think so…) perhaps they just thought that they didn’t have to make much of an effort if all of us are buried under water? LOL Sometimes, in an effort to be ‘different’ creators like the ones who did this logo go WAY over the top. As many have said, even I could have done better than that. The design emotes “crooked” to me..not a good message in today’s world. :(
I think he got it WAY wrong.
I would never have guessed it was supposed to be 2012, because it just looks like random shapes thrown together. I’m not very impressed with the colors either.
I think he missed the whole target audience altogether. Why would it need to appeal to today’s internet generation? Don’t people young and old enjoy the Olympics? I think it’s not always good to just target one group, but try to think on a bigger scale and include many. I know that’s not always easy, but come on, they had a YEAR and a huge budget!
That logo is hideous. I am very unhappy as well that it looks like a bunch of graffiti.
It makes me think of broken glass…
And honestly, isn’t Web culture today still leaning towards more rounded logos?
They got the simplicity part down, but failed miserably at the rest…
sheesh. That is no good!
[…] You’ve been showing your annoyance / dislike / shock about yesterday’s launch for London’s 2012 logo. Thank you everyone who took time out to leave very welcomed comments in my previous olympic logo design article. […]
When oh when will the big branding agencies stop fleecing the world with crap creativity. The design will probably only cost a couple of grand (but it’s not even worth that) yet the branding bullshit to back up their incompetance will cost hundreds of thousands!!!!
Here’s a challenge to Seb. If it is to be redesigned our team at Wave will do it for free as long as you donate £10,000 to charity.
I write for an italian design blog and I’ve wrote an article on that logo.
http://www.designerblog.it/post/1187/olimpiadi-di-londra-2012-ecco-il-logo
Shame on the designer! this is a real shame for UK and the olympic movement. :(
It is just horrendous. I want compensation for my design sensibilities being seriously injured for having to even look at this. I’m baffled as to how Wolff Olins could create something like this, let alone be paid what they were. I would be utterly embarrassed to even present this to a client as an option.
[…] il passaggio relativo all’elenco di community in subbuglio: Basta leggere i post e i commenti qua, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, qui, […]
[…] London 2012 olympic logo disaster “It is an invitation to take part and be involved.” I honestly would not want to be involved with this logo. It’s an unfortunate choice. London has so much to offer. This logo is a disservice. (tags: design) […]
Looks like a man crouching, perhaps contemplating his navel, or worse!
I think it’s a jigsaw puzzle.
Just because they got paid 400,000 pounds doesn’t mean it’s good design. Hard to believe that this design firm would produce something that says nothing and means nothing.
It’s shame.
i have to say as a designer first impressions of this logo reflect badly on UK design. At a time when there is some innovative and truly creative designs coming out of the parts of Europe, U.S, Asia and AUS it feels like the UK has taken a step backwards with this.
Even the landing page of london2012.com feels cheap and almost shows contempt for the task at hand. I have seen first year web design students create more professional feeling pages than that.
It’s a real shame.
I think its a genius approach.
Wolf Ollins and the 2012 committee have turned the business of branding on its head and have established a brand new methodology for inclusive identity development.
We’ve all missed the boat here - they’ve fooled the entire world and led them down a truly dynamic and interactive approach to identity design and the business of branding.
..let me explain.
Wolf Ollins Have released this design into the blogosphere , perfect in the knowledge that it will be immediately despised by 90% of the great unwashed. In response to this the great community of bloggers, designers, art students, school kids and artists will re-design there own versions. Pages will spring up on MySpace, Second Life, Face Book etc. showing more inspired and relevant designs.The BBC will feature these designs on their website, TV and Radio channels. The great British Public will decide.
A new logo will be chosen based on an audience of millions - the new logo will have been designed with passion by a street kid with an Etch-A-Sketch, a love of London and sport; and will be championed as the true identity of the Olympics. Simon Cowell and Wally Olins will give the winner a big hug on Saturday night TV. “Brand X Factor”.
Identity design by user-generated content - its new media, it’s “Yoof”, it’s cutting edge, it’s inclusive, it’s contemporary, it’s genius and above all it’s sustainable ( well isn’t everything these days ?).
Polarise the nation, encourage rioting in the streets over a logo (the greatest mass gathering of an iconic graphic design since Nuremberg) and then let them build something better. Democracy in action. The Romans would have been proud.
Its why they get paid £400k for their thinking and brand strategy - Wolff Ollins and the 2012 committee are way ahead of the curve here - we’re just mere hamsters on their wheel of creativity.
Its a brave new world and we’ve all just been had….
their website (http://www.wolff-olins.com) sucks as well, and that should have been enough of a warning.
I can do that in Paint…. For less than 400 grand.
Wolff Olins have done a lot of good work in the past, but this is bloody crap to be frank. Wrong colors, wrong font, wrong shape. Sends out the wrong message and just looks ugly. I hope they do a re-design.
That’s just wretched!
If you hadn’t told me it’s supposed to mean 2012 I wouldn’t have even guessed!
Well. Let’s think it over. First the colors. They’re interesting. I think it’s a cliche using the traditional olympics colors (red - yellow - blue - green - black)… I like the cyan-magenta-white design.
About the design: at least it’s not like a man running as in barcelona-92, sydney-00 and beijing-08 logos.
At least it is different. I like it.
Remarks:
I’m not british, so i think i have not to do with the decision.
I’m not a friend of the desiger :)
Ah, British humour!
I mean, they’re just kidding … right?
Reminds me of those cheap Cartoon fight sound things that come up on Underdog reruns or the old Banana man shows.
You Brits can do better than that in your youngsters classrooms for sure.
It’s an ugly image. I don’t like it. I wouldn’t like it either if I saw it at the Tate Modern and it had been painted by Kandinsky.
I don’t get it. Is it not implicitly part of any design brief that the users need to be able to connect with the brand? What’s gone wrong here? Am I too old? Too conservative? I didn’t think I was.
…and in other news, the residents of Vancouver, BC in Canada have found great relief in seeing the logo for the London Olympic Games as they thought they had the crappiest logo in Olympic history.
People now don’t feel so bad about teir logo and can now go back to the 15 other controversies including budget overruns and the eviction of the areas homeless.
It’s ugly, aggressive and uninviting - sums up London perfectly.
My design team here in Vietnam regularly do far superior work at a fraction of the cost, shame the job wasn’t put out to open tender.
you poor luvs.
reminds me of a bad abstract of Rodin’s “The Thinker” …. as in What WERE they THINKING?
The second I read the headline about this logo that read “2012 Olympic Logo Starts Controversy”. The first thing I thought it was was either the nazi SS symbol broken apart or the swastika broken apart…as if the Brits were trying to make some kind of statement :P
So yeah… this logo is total BS. Appeal to the youth? LOLOLOLOL!
It’s absolutely chronic. I’m going to give my design students a “re-design this logo” project when I go back to work next Monday and I guarantee every single one of them will be better than this.
this is very much design-by-committee failing.
see how everyone is blaming the designers, when i’m sure it’s those on the olympic commitee which actually was leaning over the designers going move that bit here… no make it smaller… what about white…
when i can see lots of problems with the reproduction in the logo already.
london is too small and going to get lost. font isn’t remotely like main image and so looks lost. olympic rings too fine.
two colour print with text in white reverse? very hard to get printed correctly in different materials with out getting a halo effect around lettering, going to have lots of rejected print material = higher costs.
i don’t mind the logo, but i think the typography is shocking and badly integrated. i expected better.
This design has got so much stick in the british press. I don’t like it much either but maybe that was part of the plan? The design may get some stick but it’s certainly brought attention to the Olympics and got more people talking about it!
This logo breaks most of the rules of good design.
So what?
Sticking to the rules is the opposite of creativity.
Sometimes you have to forget what you know. Or at least question it.
If more designers did this, the world would be a better place.
I find most of the comments here faintly depressing.
L.
I can’t believe that this will be the London’s 2012 olympic logo… It is much too abstract and inexpressive…
It reminds me of the typo from the CD cover of “Fever” - Kylie Minogue.
it’s good to break the ‘rules’ of design…
but if it doesn’t actually reproduce well, it’s ridiculous waste of time and effort!
I was shocked … What does it got to do with Britain or British culture. Failed to see how it comply with the design brief which looked 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’.
David, how would you intepret the brief?
[…] other designers seem to have a bad opinion on this logo: London 2012 olympic logo disaster The 2012 Olympic Logo Ate My Hamster (I love that headline) London 2012 Olympics Branding Straight […]
[…] would like a designers view of the whole logo debacle, have a read of David Airey’s excellent London Olympic 2012 logo disaster […]
How would I interpret the brief? I’d start by brainstorming everything possible to do with London, England, the UK, Britain, the olympics. Of course I’d stay clear of anything like Big Ben or Tower Bridge.
For me this is completely unmemorable and isn’t scalable either. You can’t make out the text at all in the smaller examples shown above.
The more I think and hear about it the worse it seems to get.
[…] - London 2012 olympic logo disaster […]
I don’t think you can defend a design soley on the grounds that it “breaks all the rules.” While the result can at times be spectacular, it’s easy to find examples that were just plain flops (the 1958 Ford Edsel leaps to mind).
I think the logo is absent of any nationalism. I found only one place that talks about the lack of nationalism, which I think is the more important issue. Click my name to read.
Wow!
I loved this Logo!
It looks wicked!
I am 15 so basically a teenager and my parents hated it but it looks really cool to me…
Maybe you have to be younger to understand it?
The comment from the 15-year-old is very telling. The Olympics are an international event, viewed by millions of people from different countries, backgrounds, and age groups. By designing a logo that appeals primarily to youth (and by the design I infer pre-teens to early teens), the logo completely sidesteps any appeal to those of us “old folks” in our 20s and beyond. Frankly, I’m sick and tired of everything having to appeal to “young people”. If the Olympics want to appeal to a younger crowd, then by all means add more “extreme” sports like the Winter Olympics did with snowboarding.
From the beautiful people who gave you that BA grafitti tailfin and the PriceWaterhouse Monday fiasco now comes the hat trick, for the London Olympics.
How apt, that the founding father of this strange outfit should be called Wally.
Hi David I just read your enlightening post above and thought you may like to know I have given my opinion at the following link about this situation. ausis Thoughts…
Ps.
I also put a link back here for my readers to view this post…
CHEERS
ausis
i have been working on on this in school and practically i think my younger sister could have done better.in school we were asked to make some new logo’s and to be honist i think my ideas are much better.
The argument for giving schools the chance to rescue this account is compelling. The case for scholars benefitting from Coe and co’s largesse, as opposed to Olinistas, has much merit.
Mark Lyndon
It’s a poor, cheap, BASIC logo, which in NO WAY WHATSOEVER reflects a year of research into the public (maybe the blind segment of it) and i felt like hitting the TV when I saw Lord Coe say: “we don’t do bland”. Fair enough. It doesn’t give you the right to do crap instead. It takes a while to notice that the characters on the logo are actually numbers, They look like “ZOIR” to me. We live in an age of computer generated art, where we can manipulate millions of colours to create images that appeal to the eye. This uses 6 colours, if you count the other “dynamic” (i feel sick on hearing that word and that logo in the same sentence) colours. And i’m being generous by saying white is a colour. A Microsoft paint job(16bit), to be honest. If you saw the final design for the Olympic Village, it looks beautiful and elegant. Imagine when they slap this s**tty logo on the front. URGH. Now that they’ve wrecked this stage of preparations, imagine what the opening event for the Olympics would be. approximately 2 hours of pure nonsense and bad planning. And to think the queen would have to sit through it and smile?! Poor lady. Hold your noses and cover your eyes people, London 2012 is going to be the stinkiest, most eye-watering Olympics in terms of aesthetics and design. Definitely.
This brings up another subject: Where is your money really going? It can’t be into this? Can it? Oh no.
Written by a 17 year old, so the youth in general definitely do NOT approve.
I think it looks like something from the 80’s, n’est pas?
I hate it!..this is worth £400k and took a year of research?
Well i have been looking at this for a while.At first it looked like it was numbers! “2012″
after it looks abit nasty!. It looks like a woman going down on another man :P haha.
i hope thats not what it is meant to be!!
overall this is a big disapointment, and this sign is going to be on TV more and more and the London 2012 Olympics get nearer:D. haha
Logo is Excellent. Sorry but i believe it’s very good and doesn’t reserve all these negative feedback. It’s just about a paradigm shift. I can see that conservatives are dissappointed. Greeting from Istanbul.
I think the logo is fantastic. No apologies here, I like it. I’ve already seen evolved variations of the logo and it works brilliantly, you can frame almost any image within the framework of the logo. It’s so simple but that’s the key. I’m amazed at the weight of negative opinion across the board as it’s so different from the vast majority of logo’s. The colour for example. I like the fact they’ve had the balls to do something different as opposed to toeing the line with the usual bland design Olympics have adhered to for decades.
I’d argue rather than the logo being the embarrassment the reaction of the “great British public” speaks volumes for our cynical attitude to any major project. Use your imagination people.
Having been away for 6 months it was good to read your summary of the 2012 logo and admittedly my reactions were very similar to yours initially.
However, as a brand exercise, I think it has been a success.
If you are interested in reading more, have a look at:
http://connellsnotes.blogspot.com/2007/07/400000-well-spent-london-2012-logo.html
Thanks,
Paul
What if the entire sorry chain of events were part of a thoughtful strategy to engage with consumers…not in some generic, ‘awareness is everything’ Web 2.0 exercise in wasting our time, but a planned campaign with a direction and ultimate purpose (i.e. selling tickets, raising corporate money, driving viewers to the events)?
I’ve written that fantasy business case history at http://dimbulb.typepad.com. Were it only true…
quote: “It looks like a woman going down on another man :P haha.”
yeah, you’re not the only one.
It took me forever to see that it said 2012, many people around here didn’t even see it.
what a crappy design, it would be great if it was for a kid/tween audience only, but they’d still need to do something about that 2012, it’s just too hard to read, a big NO-NO for any logo.
This kind of garbage should be known as the “No Go Logo”. It’s just a logo for logo’s sake. The concept clearly was the result of a night out on the piss…drawn on the back of a beer mat six hours before it was due for presentation.
C’mon UK design! We can do better than this.
It looks like some pieces of scrap that could not be put onto a recycle machine. I suggest, that logo should be print on top of each recycle bin ( suggestion only).
It really does not represent the greatness of London (a multicoloured race city with simple but attactive figures). Never a sport or a game have that kind of lazy design. It’s a “PERFECT SHAME”.
Can you hear that, “the world is laughing at us”. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!
Barcelona’92 olympic mascot “Cobi” had the same bad feedback in 1988 and in 1992 OH SURPRISE everyone loved it…. We are talking here about doing something DIFFERENT … we all (not)remember predictable-easy-conservative logos like atlanta or sydney but LONDON has to show why is the worlds design capital. Because it has the best clients!!! Congrats to the designers and to the Comitee, i guess there was no polemic 4 years ago in Sydney. btw: completely agree with: coudal.com/olympics.php
it looks like the flintstones are organising the olympics….
400 000…people have lost the plot!
With such sharp edges, it looks as though buildings are toppling over by a bolt that has hit it! Considering all the symbols on coinage etc spoke of 911, I would not go now because I’ve seen this logo. It looks to me like they plan to cause chaos/blow the place up. It’s ridiculous that they even plan to have the Olympics in a country that is notorious for its bombings. Coupled with a logo like that, how stupid would you be to go to the event. You could feed the poor on that amount of money it cost for the design and they would do a better job of designing it. Considering all the fear in the world and the Mayan Prophecy, could they not have designed something that reflects the flame of Olympics and world unity rather than suggest more chaos. A Logo is language and statement. It’s obvious that this is not a peaceful, inviting design.
i think its dead good to be honest, why do things have to look complicated to appeal to everyone, people have different views an thaughts on things and at the end of the day there must be a hell of alot of people who like this design for it to be the one for such a huge event an tbh from lookin at the pictures of some of you people you obviously are living in the past or havnt u noticed tht fashion an design are minimal these days
i for one appretiate this and i like it alot its very mondern. well done wolff olins i like it :)
wel i think that it looks crap and that man who designed it has made a lot of money for designing a load of rubish! im only 15 and i could of made a better one.
you cant even tell wot it is surpose to say!! it looks like a load of random shapes for a three year old!
love yas xxx
Surely this has to be awful PR for the agency that designed this sad excuse for a logo. Does anyone know which agency is responsible? Someone posted it made them angry and I feel the same way… If graphic design good be a crime then this logo deserves to be on death row!
The only thing that cheers me up about this is thinking of when the agency first showed it to a bunch of stuffy old men on the olympic board and they sat round thinking ‘yes’ this is the one to go with.. think the olympic guys were just scared to offend?
Good choice for a blog topic David, I couldn’t resist posting a comment on this issue… ;-)
Erm.. just re-read the article above and you do mention the agency.. I’ll remember that name now! Excuse my typos also!
Don’t worry about any typos, I appreciate you commenting. Thanks also, to everyone else who has taken the time to comment, and I apologise for not having the time to respond individually.
Much appreciated!
To the 15 year old who posted:
Wow!
I loved this Logo!
It looks wicked!
I am 15 so basically a teenager and my parents hated it but it looks really cool to me…
Maybe you have to be younger to understand it?
Are you blind? I’m 15 also, and it has to be the most appalling, eye-scarring mess I’ve ever seen. Cool? Hell is cooler than that. In SUMMER!!
Rant over.
And by the way, why is Australia in the top right hand corner? Is this the UK games or have I missed something?
the new badge is ugly
and i prefer the old one better because it is nicer
Please tell me this is a joke?! Sadly I don’t think it is and i’m sick to my stomach on so many levels.
Who in there right mind would approve a logo like that and pay an agency 400K? If i did something like this for a client they would most likely laugh in my face and fire me right then and there.
And what’s with the bastardized comic sans font for london and lowercase wtf? Last time i checked the graphic standards for the olympic rings is “you are not allowed to change the colours in anyway whatsoever” and here they’re knocking out on a pink background? Wow I’m flabbergasted *shaking head and sobbing*.
“If i did something like this for a client they would most likely laugh in my face and fire me right then and there.”
So true, I feel in the same way…
Perfect. A joke logo for the joke olympics.
What I really want to see is a video of the people at Wolff Olins pitching this logo to the Olympic comity… because that must have been one brilliant presentation. As terrible as the logo is, there is something impressive about the ability to sell such a piece of crap to such a highly controlled organization.
What are you lot talking about? It’s a great logo…shame someones slapped a jagged awful graphic on top of it ;)
Guys, we’ve got a problem here.
Though how much we try to tell people to change the logo but as time goes by more and more people are also trying to accept the logo. That means more and more people are now being converted to think like stone age.
most of us hated it..
that means it´s good :)
I think the logo is kick ass. I always felt Olympic logos were boring but this one actually caught my attention. Well maybe because I’m only 20 years old.
I reckon the shapes are simplified representations of the geographical shapes of the five continents - Clockwise from top right: Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Australia in the centre. Unfortunately, it has an unfriendly vibe arising from the jaggedness of it. At least it will be distinctive - hard to forget.
I know that if the logo was good (or even brilliant) I probably wouldn’t be mentioning it to other people in conversations, emails or forum posts.
At first, I thought it was a new Nazi logo spoof on the Olympics or some ancient hieroglyphic. Looks like it could a new album logo for Rush! They are coming to my town, so maybe I shall go to a concert.
After I stumbled upon an article of this at encyclopediadramatica, I can hardly visualise it as anything else but somebody bumming somebody from behind.. good god this is just awful.
That London Olympic logo which the organisers/officials are defending and say we’ll have to get used to and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds is only being defended because it cost so much, in my opinion.
If it had only cost 5 grand, they would have seen how bad it is and not felt stupid to face up to it and say ‘lets move on with a new design’, but to admit to wasting that kind of money on something rubbish would rightly make them look beyond stupid.
Maybe just slightly more dumb than defending it.
They could let the public submit ideas for ten pounds each and get a much better logo, and their money back into the bargain.
Show up the company that did such a nasty job.
I was just instant messaging with a friend who had sent me a page of weird corporate logos. Then I sent him the animated (.gif) version of the new OGC logo. He was nearly on the floor. When asked if he’d seen the 2012 Olympics logo, he said he hadn’t, so I sent it to him.
He’s now an honorary Bloke following his comment that “it’s a piece of [beep].”
. . . and so say all of us in The Colonies.