5 ms·

That Olympics Logo

17 points by SteveTooth 16y ago

terryjsmith 16y ago
I can't speak for the others, but the Vancouver logo was representative of a totem as a fair bit of the brand of the Vancouver Olympics was celebrating various Canadian native communities. I think the real upset is that the others are simple, but professional. IMO this one looks more like a bunch of cut out pieces of construction paper or a little more like grunge/graffiti. Maybe I'm missing a deeper meaning to the logo, but I think that a lot of people are if there is one.
- kiujygtyujik 16y ago
  It was representing an inukshuk - native eskimo culture that is about as far from Vancouver as Mexio is. Culturally it would have made as much sense to have an easer island statue.
  - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
    No matter where the inukshuk originates from this one, http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?q=1600+Beach+Ave%2c+Vancouver%2c+British+Columbia%2c+Canada&mkt=en-GB&FORM=BYFD http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?q=1600+Beach+Ave%2c+Va... / http://www.seethewestend.com/inukshuk/inukshuk.htm http://www.seethewestend.com/inukshuk/inukshuk.htm, seems pretty close to Vancouver to me.
    - kiujygtyujik 16y ago
      Those were erected as tourist things by hotel chains. There is Cleopatra's needle in the centre of London - but it wouldn't make sense to have the pyramids and Sphinx as the symbol for London 2012.
      - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
        >Those were erected as tourist things by hotel chains. The second link says you are (at least partly) wrong.
  - icegreentea 16y ago
    On the other hand, Canada has a whole has been adopting the inukshuk as a symbol of Canada as a whole. The Canadian government has gifted several inukshuks to foreign countries as symbols of friendship. They also appear in national parks cause hikers/campers think that their fun to make.
points 16y ago
This fails to mention the other point about that logo. Once you have seen Lisa Simpson on her knees, to the right, satisfying a man on the left, you cannot 'unsee' it.
- icefox 16y ago
  I was genuinely surprised that this wasn't once mentioned in the article especially given the title.
  - lsimpson 16y ago
    It's fairly well hidden, but it's there: "I received an email from a young woman who pointed out that the logo is clearly a schematic diagram of fellatio, with the Olympic rings being the curly hair of one party."
- avar 16y ago
  In case your imagination needed any help: http://i.imgur.com/FGwqP.jpg http://i.imgur.com/FGwqP.jpg Or: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai0y5sLg5bg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai0y5sLg5bg
hugh3 16y ago
I agree that the London Olympics logo is merely typically bad, rather than unusually bad. So the question is: why are Olympic logos always so bad? I suppose it's just a matter of having too many people involved. What's really interesting is that the logo for the bid is almost always much better than the logo for the actual games; for instance all the logos of the bidding cities for 2012: http://logoblink.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/olympic-logos.png http://logoblink.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/olympic-logo... are actually pretty good. Another example: Sydney 2000. If you look up the logo of the bid, it's pretty attractive, just the outline of the Sydney Opera House in the Olympic colours. But by the time they created a logo for the actual games, they took that logo, reversed it, and added some boomerangs (gotta get an Aboriginal influence in there!) plus a picture of a running man (sorry, person) in order to get something entirely too complicated and just plain ugly.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago
  http://logoblink.com/2007/12/12/london-2012-logo/ http://logoblink.com/2007/12/12/london-2012-logo/ is the story from which that linked image comes, they've blocked the image it seems (from their own page too).
- ugh 16y ago
  I take exception to your assertion that Olympic logos are typically bad. The Munich ’72 logo might evoke nothing more than a ‘meh’ if it’s all alone but its applications were absolutely stunning [1]. The takeaway might be that it’s best to design a solid logo that offends no one and put all the elaboration and quirkiness [2] into the rest of the identity. [1] Poster: http://www.flickr.com/photos/insect54/2307407256/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/insect54/2307407256/ – Tickets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/realnotreal/3509806052/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/realnotreal/3509806052/ [2] ‘Waldi’ is the weird but funny mascot of the 1972 Olympics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcosdopico/575561156/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcosdopico/575561156/
auxbuss 16y ago
The logo is pants, but have you seen the mascots? I'm not even going to find a link they're so excruciatingly excremental. Personally, I loved Vancouver's, but think Barcelona's a work of genius; joy and athleticism in two brush strokes and a blob. Maravillosa.
- kiujygtyujik 16y ago
  It's what's known in graphic design as a GMST = Generic Meaningless Swoosh thing.
- GFischer 16y ago
  I might have bad taste as well, but as someone totally ignorant of art: Barcelona, Nagano, Sydney, Seoul and Vancouver's logos all look equally good (and bland and generic, but that's ok) to me. I agree that the Barcelona one is the best of the bunch. The London one is missing the Olympic colours, and it looks awful to me.

17 points by SteveTooth 16y ago

I can't speak for the others, but the Vancouver logo was representative of a totem as a fair bit of the brand of the Vancouver Olympics was celebrating various Canadian native communities. I think the real upset is that the others are simple, but professional. IMO this one looks more like a bunch of cut out pieces of construction paper or a little more like grunge/graffiti. Maybe I'm missing a deeper meaning to the logo, but I think that a lot of people are if there is one.

kiujygtyujik 16y ago
It was representing an inukshuk - native eskimo culture that is about as far from Vancouver as Mexio is. Culturally it would have made as much sense to have an easer island statue.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago
  No matter where the inukshuk originates from this one, http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?q=1600+Beach+Ave%2c+Vancouver%2c+British+Columbia%2c+Canada&mkt=en-GB&FORM=BYFD http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?q=1600+Beach+Ave%2c+Va... / http://www.seethewestend.com/inukshuk/inukshuk.htm http://www.seethewestend.com/inukshuk/inukshuk.htm, seems pretty close to Vancouver to me.
  - kiujygtyujik 16y ago
    Those were erected as tourist things by hotel chains. There is Cleopatra's needle in the centre of London - but it wouldn't make sense to have the pyramids and Sphinx as the symbol for London 2012.
    - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
      >Those were erected as tourist things by hotel chains. The second link says you are (at least partly) wrong.
- icegreentea 16y ago
  On the other hand, Canada has a whole has been adopting the inukshuk as a symbol of Canada as a whole. The Canadian government has gifted several inukshuks to foreign countries as symbols of friendship. They also appear in national parks cause hikers/campers think that their fun to make.

points 16y ago

This fails to mention the other point about that logo. Once you have seen Lisa Simpson on her knees, to the right, satisfying a man on the left, you cannot 'unsee' it.

icefox 16y ago
I was genuinely surprised that this wasn't once mentioned in the article especially given the title.
- lsimpson 16y ago
  It's fairly well hidden, but it's there: "I received an email from a young woman who pointed out that the logo is clearly a schematic diagram of fellatio, with the Olympic rings being the curly hair of one party."
avar 16y ago
In case your imagination needed any help: http://i.imgur.com/FGwqP.jpg http://i.imgur.com/FGwqP.jpg Or: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai0y5sLg5bg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai0y5sLg5bg

hugh3 16y ago

I agree that the London Olympics logo is merely typically bad, rather than unusually bad. So the question is: why are Olympic logos always so bad? I suppose it's just a matter of having too many people involved. What's really interesting is that the logo for the bid is almost always much better than the logo for the actual games; for instance all the logos of the bidding cities for 2012: http://logoblink.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/olympic-logos.png http://logoblink.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/olympic-logo... are actually pretty good. Another example: Sydney 2000. If you look up the logo of the bid, it's pretty attractive, just the outline of the Sydney Opera House in the Olympic colours. But by the time they created a logo for the actual games, they took that logo, reversed it, and added some boomerangs (gotta get an Aboriginal influence in there!) plus a picture of a running man (sorry, person) in order to get something entirely too complicated and just plain ugly.

pbhjpbhj 16y ago
http://logoblink.com/2007/12/12/london-2012-logo/ http://logoblink.com/2007/12/12/london-2012-logo/ is the story from which that linked image comes, they've blocked the image it seems (from their own page too).
ugh 16y ago
I take exception to your assertion that Olympic logos are typically bad. The Munich ’72 logo might evoke nothing more than a ‘meh’ if it’s all alone but its applications were absolutely stunning [1]. The takeaway might be that it’s best to design a solid logo that offends no one and put all the elaboration and quirkiness [2] into the rest of the identity. [1] Poster: http://www.flickr.com/photos/insect54/2307407256/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/insect54/2307407256/ – Tickets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/realnotreal/3509806052/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/realnotreal/3509806052/ [2] ‘Waldi’ is the weird but funny mascot of the 1972 Olympics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcosdopico/575561156/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcosdopico/575561156/

auxbuss 16y ago

The logo is pants, but have you seen the mascots? I'm not even going to find a link they're so excruciatingly excremental. Personally, I loved Vancouver's, but think Barcelona's a work of genius; joy and athleticism in two brush strokes and a blob. Maravillosa.

kiujygtyujik 16y ago
It's what's known in graphic design as a GMST = Generic Meaningless Swoosh thing.
GFischer 16y ago
I might have bad taste as well, but as someone totally ignorant of art: Barcelona, Nagano, Sydney, Seoul and Vancouver's logos all look equally good (and bland and generic, but that's ok) to me. I agree that the Barcelona one is the best of the bunch. The London one is missing the Olympic colours, and it looks awful to me.