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So, the Olympics are coming to your home country? Think you'd like to design the logo for the games? Be careful what you wish for.
In its official press release, the 2012 London Olympic Committee had this to say about the London 2012 Olympic Logo: “The new emblem is dynamic, modern and flexible, reflecting a brand savvy world where people, especially young people, no longer relate to static logos but respond to a dynamic brand that works with new technology and across traditional and new media networks.”
However, it's going over like a lead balloon to the masses. Case in point; The Daily Mail, the second highest selling newspaper in Britain, actually ran a story requesting anyone – and I mean anyone – to create their own design for the Olympic logo. Upon viewing these public-based options, as I always say, just because you have a computer doesn't mean you should be using it! (see below)
Sebastian Coe, London 2012 chairman has stated this about the reaction, "It won't be to be everybody's taste immediately but it's a brand that we genuinely believe can be a hard working brand which builds on pretty much everything we said in Singapore about reaching out and engaging young people, which is where our challenge is over the next five years."
Toss in the fact that the logo's animated version was dropped from use after complaints that it induced epileptics to suffer fits and Sebastian's been doing a lot of PR work for the logo. Apparently the short sequence featuring a diver plunging into a pool contained high-speed flashes of color that lead a man to attest that he blanked out after see the commercial on television.
Oh, and did I mention Wenlock & Mandeville, the London Olympics mascots? They're taking a lot of heat these days as well, even though I find them endearing and kind of adorable. See them in action, with some more from Sebastian Coe, here.
In the end, it's hard enough pleasing one person or ten with a design, let alone millions. Especially when laymen get a hold of it without any knowledge as to what was discussed both before and during the design process. In the end, there's tons of bad designs floating about in Britain but I'm not quite sure this is one of them.
