Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge supporter of London hosting the 2012 Olympics, was thrilled to the point of jumping around in the office when we won and was dismissive of criticism of the recent budget worries and VAT cock-up.
But today the new 2012 logo was unveiled. And oh dear.
Look, I hope this grows on me, I really do. But first impressions had me reaching for a sick bag. Sick at the obviousness, sick at the trying too hard to be different and hip, sick that this will represent London for the next 4 years on the international stage.
Stylistically it’s trying to be cool, young, like grafitti only less artisitc. It just about says 2012 if you look closely, it even looks like it could be a person with legs if you use cloud-gazing imagination.
‘london’ is included as if an afterthought and, king of font taboos, a scrawny italicised sans serif. The Olympic logo deserves better; the whole thing is unbalanced and from the press you get the impression the organising committee has done this more to shock and get headlines than providing an inspirational, proud and dignified banner for an inspirational, proud and dignified city. It’s almost as though they want to provoke a reaction, to dare people to criticise the modernity, to play the ‘young’ card.
Well, to be honest even if I was 15 years younger I think I’d still hate it, still see through the emperors’ new clothes of branding exercises. My 2012 excitement is undiminished and undimmed; it’s just I may wear it under a plain coat if it’s going to have one of these printed on it.
