Olympic brand ready to race

The London 2012 branding by Wolff Olins was unveiled earlier today at a packed ceremony at London’s Roundhouse.

Based on the number 2012, the logo design includes the Olympic Rings and the word London. The same 2012 image, with the Paralympic symbols, represents the Paralympic Games. The visual identity aims to be ‘dynamic, modern and flexible’, and has been adapted for screen and multimedia platforms. A brand film can be found at  www.london2012.com

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  • Andy Field November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    An opportunity to showcase British design completely wasted and perhaps a sign of things to come!

  • Maria Fola November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    This is such a disappointment! How does this relate to London, or the Olympics, or the UK, or the values that the Games are supposed to be transmitting? You can’t even see 2012 on it…

  • Tim Sawford November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Absolutely horrendous – I am embarrassed!

  • shaun dawson November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Not impressed at all, it looks like a poor attempt to be all “down with the kids” Cameron style. I agree it could have been a great opportunity to showcase some quality british design talent, but instead looks like it’s been done by a local council.

  • Sue Aperghis November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I don’t think I’ve ever been so ashamed of British graphics?
    Where did they get inspiration? It looks like a retrogress back to the days of Multi Coloured Swap Shop???…
    I’m a a loss for words!!!

  • Simon McFadden November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    A difficult brief to answer but what a disjointed, visually confusing and no doubt very expensive mess. Such a shame.

  • Dave Noonan November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Emperor’s new clothes design…this is a post mdern shambles, it looks like a third rate student concept, lacks any sort of national identity and is instantly forgettable. Who on earth sanctioned this???!!!

  • Tom Lancaster November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    An absolute disaster! Watch this space, this effort is going to be deservedly slammed by the whole design community. Disgraceful.

  • Chaz November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I don’t get it. On any level. Somebody give me the frame of reference so I can get it and see how good it is. It’s appalling.

  • John Sweeney November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    It’s easy to slag this off; I agree that its relationship to London or sport is negligible but on a purely aesthetic level, I like it. Being so flexible, I think, in time, people will warm to it if not take it straight to their hearts.

  • donny November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    why? another case of suits who can’t see further than the end of their nose.

  • Chaz November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    “It’s easy to slag it off” – Why’s that then?

  • simon deverell November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    It’s good to see the team from Queens’ ‘It’s a kind of magic’ video are still getting some work.

    I wonder how many people have logged on to: http://www.london2012.com/ and thought the same thing i did…. “Oh no, someones managed to buy the URL and set-up a prank site”

  • Matt Wardle November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    This is the best branding I have ever seen. The thought and problem solving gone in behind the concept is simply stunning.
    I also think the betamax will make a huge comeback.

  • Drew McGovern November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    It isn’t even a good first rough! A sad day for British Design. 🙁

  • John Corcoran November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Opinions on the style are subjective and after all, it worked for the Aha videos. But how do they justify putting ‘London’ (sorry to use a capital L) in a size that means it will be unreadable when small? Can’t wait to see it on a sweet wrapper…

  • Helen Davies November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    creative and challenging; urban and young which is great. colours feel weak, not sure they’ll stand the test of time;; made for movement with an eye on the moving image I guess; did the O have to look like Australia? I’m unsure which is a good sign I believe.

  • Tom Ethers November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I think to even associate this with a students work is insulting to them, i graduated over a year ago and every student both past and present could’ve designed a more aesthetically pleasing solution, if they wanted to involve the youth of today why not make it an open brief with D&AD it would’ve involved universities across Britain and would’ve cost them alot less the £40000,

  • Stefan Morris November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Is the trademarking of the logo an ironic statement?

  • John bowie November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I think It’s got an active, virant and dynamic feel to it, brash maybe but bold and active definitely, and the text has been tweaked into having a sweet slanty multi-cultural flavour which is synonymous with London itself now. I like it!

  • Matt Scully November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    The importance seems to be on the overall branding and the logo a secondary afterthought. More so, the electricity, the colour, the movement. It’s an unfortunate disaster but I think it will work in the end.

  • bob November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    It looks like some graffiti artist has produced this identity. It completely sucks.

  • ed ball November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I really like it. I looks like a world map, and like ‘2012’… I think we should get Girls Aloud to sing “we are the world, we are the children” as the olympic theme. Roll on 2012!!

  • Dean Ford November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I can see what they tried to do here… Sadly it fails on just about every level. A missed opportunity for a lively, contemporary logo to represent London and the country. Let’s hope they have the courage to commission a redesign, at no further cost, as it seems clear that this does not successfully fulfil the brief. And to do it soon so this embarassment can be forgotten long before the games themselves.

  • Paul Humphreys November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Ooops, another sh*t logo. Did the office juniour or perhaps even the workplacement girll design this POC.

  • russell Knowles November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    it should have been an open design competition, they would achieved much better and original results. colours are awful, and a waste of tax payers money.

  • Wave November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Yes a difficult brief though the solution seems awful on many levels. Aesthetics, colours etc.

    It feels aggressive rather than competitive, not a good message to send out? Have they not seen Dads army?

    Worst still, have they set London in Comic Sans?

  • Sceptical Brit November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    This is just the beginning. If you think this logo is bad, wait until the Games get going and our half-assed, third-rate approach to everything in this country is exposed to the world. Great Britain? Decidedly Average Briton after this!!

  • tim Jones November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    That is a joke, are you kidding me? dredful stuff. I think they need to redesign it

  • John Drewnicki November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    The integration of the Olympic rings seems like a strained afterthought – and undermines any sense of modern identity. A weak logo; an embarrasment for Britain.

  • Graham Asker November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    A bold design with a subtle range of colours. It evokes an image of cutting edge Leiberskin architecture. Reinforces London’s reputation for art and design.

  • Michael November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I’m not sure about this ‘brand’. London is such a diverse and cultural melting pot, why would you waste such a great creative source and produce this logo. Surely someone had to have a light bulb go off and think hmm.. the colors… the style… dear god it’s the 80’s all over again! Ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous. This isn’t moving forward,if anything its a huge step back.

  • Jim Richardson November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    To suggest that the Olympics identity should have been decided by a open competition, asking designers across the county or the world to do free work would be ridiculous and to suggest this devalues what our profession does, as does the suggestion that it should have been done by students.

    When people ask why Wollf Olins were paid £400,000 for this idenity, they are seeing just a mark, which they don’t like. A huge amount of research and development has been put into creating an identity and the fee no doubt reflects the experience Wollf Olins brought to the project and the time spent on developing the identity.

    It is typical of our profession and our country to knock this logo before we have had a chance to see how it works.

    Jumping up and down saying that the logo is just rubbish gives credit to those who will be saying in the Daily Mail tomorrow that their daughters could do better, this damages the way our profession is percieved by the general public and more importantly devalues our work in the eyes of our clients.

    Jim Richardson
    SUMO
    http://www.sumodesign.co.uk

  • Michael Martin November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Now that’s what I call a logo… WOW!!!

  • GBTM November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Bold, unattractive and lacking any emotion (Isn’t the brief to capture Olympic spirit and humanity. Will most likely leave the same legacy as brands like Abbey, BT and Monday: have failed to achieve. GBTM

  • GB November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Beyond being an aesthetic disaster and embassment to UK design the logo also breaks brand guidelines for the use of the Olympic five ring symbol and sets an agenda that is opposite to the Olympic movement, elements of ‘fair play, freedom and human spirit’ are contridictary for this 2012 branding. I feel the only sensible solution is to re-open the brief to save the IOC from further embassment.

  • mr dee November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Give it a chance – it’s a ‘multimedia logo’, apparently. Oh dear, just seen the ‘brand film’, poorly executive, derivative, faddish. Another one of those ideas that sounds great in the pitch but doesn’t deliver visually. Lisa Simpson misbehaving anybody?

  • Anon November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Another example of what has happened to Wolff Olins since Omnicom.

  • Andy Sturt November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Looks like a call to the youth of England to start training! I can see the brand working particulary well on customizable sport/leisure wear. It’s nicely diverse with an air of the unknown- is it a plan of the olympic village, a japanese character, several bolts of lightning or 2012 graffiti style??? Reflects changing attitudes to the games and promises to be a lively host! BANZAI!!!

  • Anonymous November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am
  • Paul Thurston November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Looks like some NME cover with a new rave special…will look incredibly dated in 6months time. I can’t believe they have bought such rubbish.

    Seb Coe must feel like the emperor with no clothes today.

  • Stuart Wraith November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Oh dear, where did it all go so wrong?

    I don’t think that this relates to any demographic, unless they were targeting fans of TISWAS.

    The video looks like a bastard lovechild of CBBC and the opening credits of Se7en, and may well induce seizures.

    I prefer the orgininal logo used in the actual bidding for the olympics, at least it had some relation London.

    I feel that this has missed its mark and feel sorry for londoners if this doesn’t change as they will have to put up with seeing it day in day out for years to come.

  • Mahbir THUKRAL November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Theres only one person of all the people who have made comments that I completely agree with – Jim Richardson. Ok the logo might not be the best, but the cost is jusified. And like any artform, it is subjective and even though the Olympic Movement is not a corporation, in modern times it is!

    And so say that a junior designer did it as said by someone else, is a complete insult to me and my fellow graduates this year. Age brings experience but ideas can come at any time.

    Let us give the brand an opportunity to evolve and you never know, we might like it in two years! :))

    Mahbir THUKRAL
    http://www.mahbir.com

  • Simon Page November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Wolff Olins’ costs are justified, unfortunately the end result is not. This logo is not just dated and dull but lacks an elegance which is required if it’s to be embraced. This logo must go!

  • Steve Ferrier November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Event branding isn’t about a static mark, how it lives through the application and branded environments is what will be remembered. How it will all work in five years is an issue, but it also has to attract sponsors and invest interest today.

  • Big Dave November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    well what can one say, I guess whatever brand design was brought to the table it was going to get one hell of a knocking, but I fail to see any plus points for this design, the brand should surley put the games first and formost I don’t think this does forget all this representing britain’s youth and energy rubbish everyone around the world knows they are a bunch of disrespecting yobbos.
    And yes it does look like there two people going at it

  • Patrick James November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I had the strangest nightmare last night. I dreamed that Seb Coe unveiled a joke logo which would make London and the design community a laughing stock around the world. I woke up this morning and discovered it wasn’t a dream. We really will be a laughing stock. Thanks Seb.

  • Monkey Mark November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Two work experience kids with one thing on their mind. If only there were more ‘out the box thinkers’ like Big Dave in the design world!

  • Atomic Paradise November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Maybe the cost can be justified, most things can be justified by someone with enough intelligence and charisma, although it is unbelievable that after the time and money and so called ‘research’, not much research has been done into whether people like the logo.

    The Olympics speaks for itself, it isn’t a brand, it’s a global sports event. It writes its own brief. The games can’t be masked by any new ‘branding strategy’.

    This logo is endemic of what is happening in Britain with design and art, too much money and no thinking outside the box, creating a muddled mess with no clear message other than just existing to show a mirror up to a society that has gotten lost.

    Sorry to be cynical, but I don’t personally care what it looks like, it’s what it stands for that upsets me.

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