With Meggs’ discussion on the Olympic emblems and pictographs such as the Mexico 1968, L.A. 1984, and Beijin 2008 games, I decided to take a look at the emblems of the recent and upcoming Olympic Games.
London 2012 Olympics The London 2012 Olympics logo was created by Wolff Olins. The emblem is 2012 and within the 0 are the Olympic rings. There are no landmarks or images of sports as many other Olympic logos typically have. Rather the logo signifies a universal appeal that goes beyond London, sport, age, culture and nation. The goal of the logo was to portray the modern, dissonance and edgy spirit of London, while serving as a visual that is appealing to youth and portray new ambition. This was a logo that sought to convey that everyone could seek challenges and find new abilities within themselves.
The London Olympic logo has garnered polarizing reactions among the public, the media, and designers alike. Some have applauded the logo for being edgy and unconventional. Its boldness and uniqueness has made the logo into an instantly recognizable visual symbol.
On the other hand, it is commonly derided for being the one of the “worst” Olympic logo ever created. The use of the font Headline 2012 is jarring; the jaggedness makes the text hard to read, while as a whole the logo looks crude and does not effectively portray the spirit of the Olympics. Alongside, there are complaints about hidden sexual imagery, antichrist messages, and sneakily spelling the words “Zion”.
If anything the London 2012 Olympic was very successful in being a groundbreaking design, as well as an instantly recognizable corporate identity and garnering a lot of attention from people around the world.
Rio
2016 Olympics
The Tátil agency is the team who designed the Rio
2016 Olympic Game Logo. While working on this project, the designers had the
assignment of compiling 12 topics into one logo. The goal for the Rio logo was
to find a way to represent “the spirit of collectivity”, have an emotional impact,
be legible and easy to recognize, be technically sound yet original, show the
effect to transform and be inspiring while capturing the spirit of Rio and its
people to the world.
It was especially tough for the designing team to portray
an apt personality for Rio when there are only 3 letters to work with. In the
end, the team of designers ended up creating 150 logotypes but only one could
be submitted. The designers sought for balance, tactual visual, and most important
of all, a logo that could to touch people.
The Rio logo is more than the three figures embracing
Rio’s main tourist attraction, a sculptural city; it is a visual that symbolically
conveys welcome feelings, passion and the spirit of the Olympics. The embrace also
conveys the wisdom: united we stand, divided we will fall. The overall effect
of the Rio logo invokes energetic feelings, flow, and the celebration of life.
It is also tridimensional, and spells the word “Rio” while cleverly alluding to
a heart.
So far, the Rio 2016 Olympic logo has had more positive
reaction than the London logo. It does not escape criticism, notably for the
design playing it too safe. There was also controversy of the logo sharing too
many similarities to the logo of the American Telluride Foundation as well as
Henri Matisse’s painting “The Dance”.
References:
- http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/london-2012-olympic-logo-was-it-really-so-bad-after-all-142610
- http://www.designboom.com/design/london-olympics-2012-the-look-of-the-games/
- http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/hated-london-2012-logo-you-might-rio-2016-better-142723
- http://imjustcreative.com/rio-2016-olympic-logo/2012/08/14/
- http://www.designboom.com/design/rio-2016-olympics-logo/
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/artblog/2007/jun/05/howlisasimpsontooktheolym
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics#Logo_and_graphics
- http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670429/the-surprisingly-smart-strategy-behind-london-s-infamous-olympic-branding#1
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