London 2012 Olympic Logo Is One Step Beyond
HOW do you encapsulate the Olympics in one single image? How do you capture the unending quest for glory, the physical perfection, the humanity, the dreams, the, erm, cheating, corruption and wanton drug taking? (Pic: Beau Bo D’Or)
Well, design agency Wolff Olins thought long and hard about their brief for the London 2012 games.
Yet after all their hard work, culminating in the unveiling of their £500,000 creation at the Camden Roundhouse today, what do they get for their trouble? Answer: howls of derision. Well, that and a very large pay packet, of course.
The new logo, which features chunky and angular numbers, was apparently created for the “Google generation”, whoever they are.
At the launch, former Tory golden boy and all-round smug so-and-so Lord Sebastian Coe says: “London 2012 will be everyone’s Games. This is the vision at the very heart of our brand. It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold, and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world. It is an invitation to take part and be involved.”
However, within hours of the unveiling, an online petition had racked up almost 5,000 signatures with one angry petitioner calling the new logo “puerile rubbish” while another writes, “Any art teacher worth his crayons would have turned it down.”
London Assembly member for Brent and Harrow, Bob Blackman, adds to the voices of dissent, saying, “Lord Coe has described this logo as ‘ambitious, interactive and youth-friendly’. I would describe them as hideous.”
However, that world-renowned art and design critic, Jonathan Edwards, (who also did a bit of triple-jumping when he had the chance) responded to the negative views. Says he: “It’s funky and edgy and perhaps a bit graffiti like. It’s not a staid corporate logo like some in previous games. As soon as you do something different it’s bound to arouse a response.”
Expect Edwards to be judging the next Turner prize…
Update on this story
Posted: 4th, June 2007 | In: Broadsheets Comments (23) | TrackBack | Permalink
