Logo Fiasco

I heard about the up roar over the official logo for the London 2012 Olympic Games a number of days before I saw the design itself. By choice I decided to read, listen and observe the reactions to this unveiling and attempt not to see for myself until some dust had settled. Five days later I was ready for what some members of the British public were calling "nothing better than graffitti!" I was therefore more than surprised when I laid my eyes upon said logo. Edgey, youthful and urban may be, but graffitti, I think not. Tame and even uninspiring came to my mind. This design lacked energy, a reflection of the host city and more importantly the 5 Olympic rings or at least their colours. I'm sure the whole process was a very long and hard one for the London committee...with a little politics thrown in to boot. Another design however was very clever and striking incorporating the Union Jack and Big Ben's Tower with the Olympic rings included below. May be a little pretentious considering the games are a time for different nations to come together, but you knew exactly what the image was communicating. My personal favorite was the candidate city logo. A more simple and classic design which directly named the city, year and Olympic rings, but then illustrated the host city by using the colors of the 5 rings and drawing the River Thames weaving in and out of the letters. Sometimes the best idea is the most obvious.