London Calling… for a New Olympic Logo
While running to nowhere on an elliptical machine yesterday morning, I was reading through my latest edition of TIME magazine and saw something that almost caused me to fall off the machine. Yes, it was the new logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Like a bloody car wreck, I had to stare at it. Was this something representative of 2012? While we don’t know what the future holds, I certainly hope it doesn’t involve shapes and colors straight out of 1989. I mean, really? Who designed this mess? I bet you if you watch the opening credits to Saved By the Bell frame by frame you’ll probably see this design slipped in somewhere. I’m wondering if the designer won an episode of Nickelodeon’s Guts in the early 90s, and was inspired by his or her glowing piece of the AggroCrag.
There’s no doubt that this well-researched, heavily-financed logo is the ugliest thing seen in the Olympic games since Atlanta’s memorable Izzy from 1996. There’s also no doubt the creators of this horrific art piece are also getting something any artist would LOVE to have: free publicity.
Irish author Brendan Behan once said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.” That is certainly the case with the 2012 logo. Thanks in part to the fanatical British media, and art critics from all around the world on the internet, people are talking about the 2012 London Olympics. In case you forgot, the next Olympics are in China in 2008. That alone is a major victory for the London Olympics committee.
While the Olympics are still a major event, and still give a major ratings boost to NBC every summer, unless the games are in your backyard quite a few people don’t care. Actually, I should clarify that as not too many people watch it from start to finish. The buzz for most Olympic games, again when not in your nation, is typically minimal until just a few days before opening ceremonies. For the London group, they’re getting a five-year head start on the buzz. They’re also getting creative.
If you go to the 2012 Olympics website, you can design your own Olympic logo for the games. To date, there have been more than 400 entries posted (although probably thousands of more unacceptable ones are sitting in some 2012 staffer’s in-box). It’s a great and fun response from the 2012 group: Okay, you don’t like it? Design one yourself and do better! After perusing through most of the posted entries, I can say without hesitation that everyone else’s sucks just as much as the official logo. Granted there are a few excellent submissions, and a couple of humorous ones, but most of them are pure crap. I suppose it’s just further proof that anyone can be a critic.
But if the 2012 logo follows through on Behan’s idea of publicity, if it does indeed die in favor of a new logo, than a public search and competition for the next great idea in the 2012 Olympic logo creation will not only generate a nicer logo it will also provide another stream of buzz going in to that Olympic games.
If you know of the tale of the ugly duckling, you know that eventually it becomes a swan. I don’t know if the 2012 logo will actually change into a beautiful swan, as in a brand new and more easy-on-the-eyes logo. In fact, the logo doesn’t have to change period. The London Olympics committee already got its beautiful swan: free publicity. And that’s a creature so beautiful, money just can’t buy it.
