This is the new logo for the 2012 Olympics.

 

 

 

The "iconic brand" was a year in the making and the designers hope it will go some way to helping bring in the £2bn needed to host the games in London.

 

But the design is likely to spark some public debate.

 

The bold, jagged emblem is based on the date "2012" comes in a series of very bright shades of pink, blue, green and orange in a modern take on the Olympic colours.

 

The word "London" and the Olympic rings are included in the first two digits.

 

"It has a movement to it and it will evolve and change," a London 2012 spokeswoman said.

 

London 2012 organising committee chairman Seb Coe said: "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."

 

Dame Kelly Holmes was positive.

 

"I think it was grown on a lot of people," she said.

 

And Olympic Gold medalist Denise Lewis said: "I think it will time for people to grow to love it like we do."

 

For the first time the same logo will be used for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

 

International Olympic Committee President Jacque Rogge said: "This is a truly innovative brand logo that graphically captures the essence of the London 2012

 

Olympic Games - namely to inspire young people around the world through sport and the Olympic values."

 

The brand, designed by Wolff Ollins, aims to be a "hardworking" tool that is dynamic, modern and flexible so that it can fit in with new media and technology.

 

It must also catch the attention of young people, according to London 2012.

 

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: "This is an iconic brand . . . that will become familiar, instantly recognisable and associated with our Games in so many ways during the next five years."

 

 

 

 

what do you think?

one of the worst logos ever in my opinion.

It looks like a jigsaw!:rolleyes:

It's horse shit isn't it.

 

I think that's the technical term.

What's wrong with

 

?

nothing special

Wow. That's horrid.

 

Looks like a 9-year-old made it.

Good God.

 

I seriously thought that was a joke.

 

It looks like... I don't know what it looks like, but it's not pretty.

Oooh retro.

 

 

 

:dozey:

That design is pathetic.

I'm sure many of us on here could come up with something better in less than an hour.

A year in the making. What a joke.

Looks like either the gay nazi party logo or a block person giving another block person head.

Looks like either the gay nazi party logo or a block person giving another block person head.

 

What a weird imagination you have!:rolleyes:

Haha, Hitler did design the Olympic Rings symbol.

Haha, Hitler did design the Olympic Rings symbol.

 

I wonder if Bryan Ferry approves, then?:rolleyes:

it looks like someone giving another a blowjob!

it looks like someone giving another a blowjob!

 

That has already been said.:rolleyes:

What's wrong with

 

?

what's wrong with no Olympics at all. I'm in favour of that!

What's wrong with this one?

 

 

Or maybe this one?

 

How about: SHIT

 

 

or maybe one man and his crap

 

How about: SHIT

 

 

or maybe one man and his crap

 

 

Did they cost £400,000 to produce??:rolleyes:

'Don't pay Olympic logo designers a penny', says Ken Livingstone

 

Last updated at 17:46pm on 6th June 2007 Comments (27)

• Experts warn symbol causes epileptic attacks

• 35,000 sign the petition to scrap it

• Ken Livingstone says: 'Don't pay the designers'

 

 

The crisis over the London Olympics logo deepened today as the emblem was ridiculed globally.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone proclaimed that the firm behind the graffiti-like logo "should not be paid a penny".

The £400,000 graffiti-like logo has become a laughing stock from Scandinavia to the United States.

The logo has been described as "the work of a child" and has been mocked for being largely unrecognisable as spelling out 2012.

Olympic logo: How they should've done it!

 

Amateurs give Olympic designers a lesson in creativity (and they only took minutes)

 

 

by DUNCAN ROBERTSON and NICK McDERMOTT - More by this author » Last updated at 15:21pm on 6th June 2007 Comments (117)

It took almost a year to create and cost £400,000.

But the official logo for the London Olympics was met with widespread condemnation when it was unveiled on Monday.

Within a day, dozens of amateurs came up with their versions - which many believe better capture the spirit of London and the Games.

Their designs appeared on the BBC website after the corporation asked users to send in their ideas.

 

More....

• Gallery: Amateurs design Olympic-winning logos
  
• Gallery: More amateurs design Olympic-winning logos
  
• The Olympic logo revolt

Scroll down for more...

Alternative: These are the preferred Olympic logos which include Ricky Gervais's dance, a Tube map, 2012 as an athlete, the London Eye, Olympic typeface and a world of sport

 

In the spirit of the Games, we're inviting you to email us your design for the 2012 Games - and we'll award gold, silver and bronze medals to our favourites.

Click here to email us your 2012 logo

Most were created after a few minutes doodling or playing on the computer.

And although the style and quality varies, a substantial number of these amateur designs pay homage to more familiar Olympic symbols and London landmarks.

Many feel the creators of the official logo ignored such icons in an attempt to make the logo look modern - and to appeal to the Internet generation.

The interest and efforts of these novice designers will give weight to criticism that the public was not involved in the design process.

Aside from its aesthetics failings, the logo has also caused offence. One Jewish person rang the BBC to complain that it was reminiscent of the swastika.

The design was created by Wolff Olins, a brand consultancy firm with clients around the world. Founded in 1965, it helps companies promote and rebrand themselves by coming up with original logos and designs.

Among its clients are First Direct, the Tate Modern, the Samaritans and the 2004 Athens Olympics, for which it created a simple blue logo.

Its major success stories have been with Orange, where it created a billion-dollar brand through its advertising campaigns, and with Tesco, where it rebranded the supermarket's own-brand products.

But the firm is no stranger to controversy.

In the early 1990s, BT spent millions on Wolff Olins design of its unpopular 'piper' logo, only for other firms to claim it was similar to other corporate emblems. It was dropped 12 years later.

And when public services unions Nalgo, Nupe and Cohse amalgamated, Wolff Olins spent £65,000 coming with the name Unison - the same name as employees had come up with in an internal competition.

Eurotunnel spent £500,000 on the company's services to come up with a name for the rail service - eventually named Le Shuttle.

The London-based firm has offices in New York, Tokyo and Barcelona.

It was bought by U.S. firm Omnicom in 2001, where it forms part of the Diversified Agency Services Group, which deals in marketing and communications

Gordon Brown's wife Sarah worked for the Wolff Olins before she started her own PR firm.

Health charity issues epilepsy warning over Games logo

 

LONDON — An animated display of London’s jigsaw-style 2012 Olympics logo, which has drawn an unfavourable public response, was removed from an official website Tuesday following concern it could trigger epileptic seizures.

Epilepsy Action, a British health charity, said 10 people had complained about the animation and some had suffered seizures from watching images depicting a diver plunging into a pool.

The Olympic group said it has taken steps to remove the animation from the website and will now re-edit the film.

The design is made up of four jagged pieces that form the numbers 2012 in a variety of colours. It cost US$796,000 and was targeted at young people. The logo was unveiled Monday and within hours an online petition was established asking for a new design.

London’s Design Museum founder Stephen Bayley said the logo was "a puerile mess, an artistic flop and a commercial scandal."

Chief organizer Sebastian Coe claimed the graffiti-style design was created to draw the attention of young people. An official website shows flashing and moving images of the logo. In a departure from previous games, the logo has no visual imagery of the host city or country.

The logo has the word "london" spelled out in lower case letters in the top left half, with the Olympic rings in white in the top right half.

"It’s vital that we reach out to those young people in a language that they understand and in technology that’s familiar to them," Coe said. "This brand is absolutely the world they live in."

Coe said the logo, designed by international branding firm Wolff Olins, should not disfranchise older Olympic fans.

"People who understand the Games, who get the Games, have a historic feel for the Games, have an emotional attachment to the Games are probably not going to be moved, one way or another by a brand," he said.

The logo used during London’s successful bid for the Games featured a multicoloured ribbon creating an outline of the River Thames woven through the word "London." The Athens logo in 2004 featured an olive wreath, while Sydney’s 2000 logo featured a runner created by boomerangs. Beijing’s 2008 logo features Chinese calligraphy of a runner.

Within hours of the launch on Monday, an online petition was set up asking for a new logo or a return to the bid design. By late Monday, the petition had received more than 5,500 signatures.

Blogs on newspaper websites for the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the British Broadcasting Corp. and Design Week magazine all contained negative comments on the design.

The 2012 Paralympics will share the same logo as the Olympic Games for the first time.

"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," London 2012 organizers said in a statement.

^^ Haha i just saw that on Yahoo! That's pretty funny... :laugh3:

London Olympics 'to be held in French'

 

 

London Olympics 'to be held in French'

 

The official language of the London 2012 Olympics will be French according to secret contracts seen by the Daily Telegraph.

 

French is the first language of the International Olympic Committee and as such that means that it must take precedence at all Olympic ceremonies including when medals are being handed out.

 

The presentations will also take place in English but any statement in English "should be read after the French".

 

All "billboards and pageantry" must also be in French, with English relegated to a second language for the duration of the Games.

 

The stipulations are listed in the legally binding "Olympic technical manuals" that were signed by London officials when they were awarded the Games in 2005. They were obtained under freedom of information laws by The Spectator magazine and the Games Monitor website after a two-year battle.

 

Among the other requirements thrust upon the city by the IOC are:

 

- At least 40,000 hotel rooms for IOC members, foreign sports administrators and other official guests - 1,800 of which must be four or five star. London will be expected to pay for at least 7,000 of the rooms.

 

- Making sure the Queen is available for a "ceremony planned by the IOC" just before the Games open.

 

- The Union Jack should only be flown fifth in precedence behind the Olympic flag, the London 2012 symbol, the United Nations flag and the flag of Greece.

 

- A recommended 700 people will have to be given a dedicated car and chauffeur, while another 400 should get a pool car and a driver.

 

- The city must also "obtain control of all billboard advertising, city transport advertising, airport advertising etc for the duration of the Games and the month preceding", to make sure only official Olympic partners are advertised.

 

- All spectators "must be prohibited from wearing clothes or accessories with commercial messages other than the manufacturer's brand name", which if taken literally would prevent people from wearing football jerseys to events.

 

- All IOC meeting rooms must be provided with "photocopy paper in various colours – white, pink, green, blue – according to the precise instructions of the IOC".

 

A spokesman for the Games tried to play down the significance of the manuals.

 

"This is information provided to cities to get them thinking about all the things they need to do," he said.

 

"The hotel room numbers are guidelines and we may not necessarily need, for instance, 100 rooms for the ceremony stars. The ambush marketing provisions are targeted on mass ambushes, not people wearing their football shirts."

 

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/09122010/58/london-2012-london-olympics-held-french.html

- The Union Jack should only be flown fifth in precedence behind the Olympic flag, the London 2012 symbol, the United Nations flag and the flag of Greece.

 

Is the games being held on the water now?