2012 olympics

the olympics are a big deal.


the entire world watches, they only occur every four years (winter olympics excluded), and cities pay billions of dollars just preparing to host them. naturally, you'd like your country to have the most bad ass logo to slap on every uniform, banner, jersey, megaphone, commercial, swim cap--you name it. who doesn't love team spirit?


let's take a look at previous olympic logos:

photo courtesy of wikipedia

not bad beijing. the asian text, the drawing-very representative of chinese culture. love the bold red.

photo courtesy of mediabistro.com

personally, nyc is my favorite. madrid's, though classic, leaves something to be desired, moscow's is a bit boring, and i'm not sure what the rainbow is in london's (the tube lines? the thames?). i liked paris' initially, but i'm not sure what a heart has to do with the olympics. we're competing with other countries, not dating them.

and so, london is chosen for the 2012 olympics. and this is what they come up with:

photo courtesy of wikipedia

WHAT.

i actually had to read up (thank you wikipedia) to determine what this logo is supposed to symbolize. if london thinks that their logo obviously signifies "2012," they are mistaken. at first glance, this looks like modern art. i even threw out the idea that it might be a liberal interpretation of a portion of the western european continent. and though i am a huge fan of bright colors, i don't believe that sea foam green has ever been associated with the olympics in any way. and how does this relate to london? will this logo resonate with london's residents? i can't say for sure, but my guess is probably not.

moving on to my favorite country logo so far: canada has recently had a make over...

(all canada photos courtesy of fastcodesign.com)

 this is an olympic logo. canadians capitalized on the maple leaf, a symbol that always inspires great pride in their citizens. in the first logo, they've incorporated the classic colors of the rings to represent the olympics as a whole, and then continued to simplify until only the red maple leaf is left (third example). while the first is almost overwhelming (and let's face it, not very practical) the third is both simple and pragmatic. a modern interpretation of a classic- my favorite.

for more information on the canadian olympic logo and an inspirational interview with the designer, click here.