unoriginalname38 – the blog of Dave Cole

The London 2012 logo

I really liked the old logo for London 2012. It was colourful without being gaudy and imaginatively used the shape of the Thames as an integral part of the design. It was measured and confident and was very much the impression I'd like to give of London.

The BBC website reports that it has had a record number of posts complaining about it and even suggest this might be a giant con, as you can submit your own design to the London 2012 website. Unfortunately, Auntie Beeb didn't read the article properly, as you have to fit your pictures into an abstract template they give you. I might have a go, though.

We now have, as Iain Dale puts it, what looks like the advert for the Annual Rabbit Shagging Championships. It fell at the first hurdle - I didn't realise that the pink shapes said '2012'. Indeed, I didn't realise they were meant to say anything. Moreover, it says of London 'we love shite PR'. Quite why the rebrand was thought necessary, I don't know. If this is an attempt to move on from the troubles of rising costs that have troubled London 2012 of late, I'd say the money could have been better spent. In fairness, the agency behind it have come up with a genius way of making new business - the design will, according to LOCOG, evolve up to 2012. Sorry to whoever designed it, but I don't like it.

In fairness, there will have to be additions to whatever design is used to allow for the pictograms that are used for each sport. Wikipedia has good examples of the pictograms for Beijing 2008. The Thames ribbon could easily be adapted for pictograms for London 2012.

I actually think the old river logo had some identity to it - people seemed to recognise it, particularly as it was the background for the fantastic moment in Trafalgar Square when the host city was announced. With a bit of luck, they'll go back to the former logo post haste. With a bit more luck, I'll do some designing and see if I can do better.

One good thing about the new set of logos - they were for the Olympics and Paralympics, emphasising that the games are for all. It doesn't change the fact that they look rubbish. The old logo emphasised the fact that it was in London, a city inextricably connected to the Thames. The new one doesn't emphasise unity or anti-discrimination so much as tastelessness.

I feel a Freedom of Information request coming on...

xD.

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