Controversial New Olympic Logo (It's really that bad?)

Controversial New Olympic Logo (It's really that bad?)



The new logo for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games was launched in by Sebastian Coe and a team of London 2012 ambassadors.

The spiky logo, a stylised image of the number 2012, is part of a £500,000 branding of the Games. Sebastian Coe, chairman of the 2012 organising committee Locog, said at the design's launch in north London that it was part of a desire to encourage young people to get involved in the event.

Described by its designers as "youthful and exciting", the emblem cost £400,000 to produce and features four striking blocks of colour that spell out the number 2012. The emblem also includes the Olympic Rings and the word 'London'.

The logo, which comes in magenta, pink, orange and green, is the first in recent years not to include a reference to the host nation's national colours or flag. Although it incorporates the word "London", it lacks the implied patriotism of the Beijing 2008 or Athens 2004 logos, which used red and white, and blue and white respectively.

Chris Bray, director of Logo Design, one of Britain's most experienced oldest graphic design companies, , said: "I don't understand what it is ... oh I see ... it makes a rather pathetic 2012. Well that's rubbish isn't it?"

His feelings were echoed by the design guru Stephen Bayley, founder of the Design Museum, who said: "It is a puerile mess, an artistic flop and a commercial scandal. It is feeble. It was a wonderful chance to do something magnificent and it was a waste of resources."