2012 London Olympics Logo Controversy: The 2007 Branding Year in Review
December 9, 2007 by Susan Gunelius
Filed under Marketing
It’s the end of 2007, so I thought I’d take some time over the next few weeks to talk about a few interesting events in branding this year.
Back in June, the logo was released for the 2012 Olympics in London amid much controversy. The world was buzzing about the logo with most people saying they didn’t like it. Some groups such as the Epilepsy Action went so far as to say it was making people physically ill. Here it is six months later, and the world is still talking about the 2012 London Olympics logo.
To protest the 2012 Olympics logo, Britain’s second highest selling newspaper, The Daily Mail, invited anyone and everyone to take a stab at redesigning the logo. Check out some of the entries below. There are actually some that are very good (and some that are not as good).
What do you think? Do you like any of these better than the official logo? I see several that I think are more representative of London than the actual logo, and therefore, I like them more.
I like the last one in the lower-right corner (London Eye) and the one above that (Underground). Those are both really sharp and I suspect they were done by the same person because they make great use of a London landmark.
I loved the rings in the upper right corner with the london underground style design. Clean and basic.
There are definitely some better ones in that list than the current logo. It would be wise for the city of London to reconsider their current logo iteration.
These new entries are just terrible!!! Much worse than the original one!
there are good ones in the list but i would go for the actual logo. it’s a totally new thing. not the usual design you get for a major sporting event like the olympics.
personally i like the hoodie on a skateboard with a spray can – great representation of the UK! ha!
I think theyr all better then the real thing cos they actually give u a glimpseof London and not just a buch of shapes
the bunch of shapes are autually the numbers 2012, yet the design is very bad and i believe that most of these designs are alot better than the original
Um ha!
I really love the one with the torch in the shape of the UK. To me, the others seem amateurish and completely uncreative. The original would be a better choice. But the torch definitely wins out. It obviously needs a professional’s touch, but it’s really creative!
the one that we have chosen is crap lol
br iysha
If I had to choose from these logos I would take the one just above the text paragraph. But I still think, these are crap against the original one.
When I first saw the original logo, I was surprised and said ‘finally we have some fresh logo’. I do not know why people were hostile against it. I think many people take it as something superficial. To me it actually looks professional, fun, shows diversity, flexibility (any application of colours). Most of the above example of the ‘other suggested logos’ depict London superficially. We have to know that everybody in this world knows what London is, and London has its name in the world map already. To this, what a graphic designer should do is to communicate an information relevant to the contemporaneity, and I suppose not the architecture, not the flag, not the queen for god’s sake. And no torch, no people holding hands….those are plain boring, everybody in the world though of that, and it can be applied to everywhere, so it doesn’t speak ‘London’. The original logo is wonderful in depicting London in a stylish/edgy method. Look deeper. This logo is revolutionary.
I like it.
I hope to god they change the logo they have now. I like the last block especially the torch, the blocks, and the one with the quarter of the ferris wheel alternating red and blue rings.
Looks like Pangea. Something like a geological event plus it is London, the zero hour. Nice! what date exactly it will be held?
These are all laughable… all but one… the second from the bottom right. And MAYBE the beach ball / bubbles one… altho’ that one is missing the rings and it still very weak overall.
The problem with the official logo is not that it is edgy and modern, but that its crude clunkiness contradicts the grace and athleticism that are essential to the Olympics.
the original looks like lisa simpson giving bart simpson head, as we all saw on facebook, the 3rd last one at the bottom witht he circles filled with what represents london is the best one. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=738122827&ref=profile#/2012lisasimpson?ref=mf