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The Look of the games


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Yes, it is. And that has never been done before. It is a very simple idea but for me it works so well. I just didn't like the colours they used to present it to the world. I think it would have gotten far less criticism if they would have presented it with less garish colours.

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If you consider the logistics of having to get over 200 permissions from NOCs to essentially redraw their national flag, then that in itself shows the depth the Look team must have gone to really care about how flexible this system is. Never been done before on that scale.

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Those individualized banners would've been great if the logo was blown up and took up most of the banner (even if some of it was cropped out). All that white is really dull and reduces their impact.

I like the purple they're using at some venues. Regal with an air of festiveness, but still neutral and telegenic.

Not sure how smart it was to do all the water related venues in blue. The branding gets a bit lost.

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I will have to reserve judgement on the blue until I see it on tv. I have seen some pics I like and others I hate. It does look much different to the other branding but am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing at this stage.

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Much as I like the idea of the flag/banners, I think they're poorly done. I agree with NY20 - way too much white. As a pin badge they would be great but on a banner they should have repeated it or cropped in.

Interesting how the union flag in-fill that's been use widely to date has been abstracted slightly in sections rather than the whole flag (as shown on those banners)

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Yes, it is. And that has never been done before. It is a very simple idea but for me it works so well. I just didn't like the colours they used to present it to the world. I think it would have gotten far less criticism if they would have presented it with less garish colours.

Also, perhaps a better media response has they presented the whole look. I guess their hands were tied on this.

Now that we've seen everything, I think it's looking really strong.

I'm curious to see how this looks as TV graphics - the digital clock, results, etc. Also if it animates on-screen to cut between action replays/slow mo's.

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I have always liked the logo and I think it is really coming into it's own now.

It was innovative and edgy to have gone for a logo that could be 'infilled' with whatever was required. I love the flag logos!

If you look at the Rio 2016 logo, it is such a backwards step from London. It is a return to the staid, boring logos of most previous Olympics.

London 2012 is very much a 'brand,' ahead of it's time, when released in 2007, in my view.

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With the logo, you have to think of it like the Apple logo, or McDonald's golden arches, or Chanel's crossing C's, or Lacoste's crocodile.

Distintive iconography that dosen't need words next to it to tell you what it represents. The way London has used their logo in the last five years, matching it up sponsors' own design language, using it as a "stamp," using it in different applications, etc. has made its distinctive shape synonymous with the event it represents, the London 2012 Olympic Games.

I don't live in the UK, but it does seem to me that for a lot of people who do live there, it really has come to be the visual mental place mark for London 2012 in ways that past Olympic logos have not been for those hosts' populace. It has come to be associated with 'Olympic Games taking place in London in 2012' in the same way Apple's apple has come to stand for 'sleek, high quality electronics with user friendly interfaces' for so many people. That's the "brand."

And I'll argue that Londoners will be able to recall this logo in 8 years so much more easily than Athenians are able to recall their own Olympic logo right now.

A big part of that will be because of all the hoopla it caused when it was revealed of course, but it's also a distintive, yet simple design where it's all its elements are contained within its form. Its composition is not heavy and divided up like previous Olympic logos. That's its innovation, if you want to call it that.

I"m not the biggest fan of the Look, but I do like the logo.

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Water polo is probably the single weakest Athens venue you could look at. I wish I could post my personal pictures, but the boards only seem to allow images hosted elsewhere online.

I'm really late to the game with this, but http://imgur.com/ is a good free site to host images. You don't even need to sign up. Images only get deleted if they've not been viewed for 6 months (if you sign up, you can edit or delete them sooner). Please post the images you have to compare. I think it would be helpful. I don't remember a lot of Athen's Look, so I refresher would be great.

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As a graphic designer myself, I agree with NY20 about the logo as an icon. There's no other international event this year, bigger than the XXX Olympiad so to create a symbol that spells out '2012' is a clever move. Talking to friends, family and colleagues, nearly everyone refers to the London Olympics as simply '2012'. The thinking/strategy by Wolff Olins was simply brilliant. London can't be summed up in one familiar symbol, plus it's a reminder that this event is not just about the capital city, it's the entire country - best illustrated through the incredible support for the torch relay.

All the Olympic logos were starting to become familiar, not just in look but in the arrangement... a static symbol - check, logotype - check, Olympic rings - check, centred alignment - check. Here was something different and why not? London's bid had a strong vision to 'inspire a generation' and now that the whole identity can be seen, you understand why 'youth appeal' is important. This would have been central to the design brief set by LOCOG before any creative work was carried out so I think it was unfair that Wolff Olins received such a hard time. Remember that this is the same agency that produced the beautiful Athens 2004 logo.

Five years on, it still causes much debate and people will still love or hate it but as we're about to see the presentation of this identity in full and at it's best, I'm confident it will be remembered for a long time.

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So surely an accomplishment - there really is no pleasing u!

That's absolutely not true. Athens and LA did. As for London, the pictographs, giant Glasgow banners, triangular banners and strands of flags all work well. I've also commented on the water effect under the bridge, the turf behind the rings at the aquatic center, the beautiful green, park-like setting at the Olympic Park and plenty of other things.

I don't like the shape of the logo and I don't think it's terribly creative to use it to frame national flags. Sorry.

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That's absolutely not true. Athens and LA did. As for London, the pictographs, giant Glasgow banners, triangular banners and strands of flags all work well. I've also commented on the water effect under the bridge, the turf behind the rings at the aquatic center, the beautiful green, park-like setting at the Olympic Park and plenty of other things.

I don't like the shape of the logo and I don't think it's terribly creative to use it to frame national flags. Sorry.

No Games will ever have all the elements perfect. As much as I love London 2012, the small street banners, Games Makers & torch relay runners uniform (shame they are not short sleeves and shorts) and the Olympic medals are the only things that didn't do it for me. The rest are brilliant design which are distinctive and well executed.

Personally my fave element for each Games:

Atlanta 1996 - The logo

Sydney 2000 - The torch

Athens 2004 - The Look

Beijing 2008 - The medals

London 2012 - The logo

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If I had to pick my favorite Olympic logo it would probably be Barcelona or LA's stars in motion. if Rio had used their bid logo for their Olympic logo it would've been one of my favorites as well. The three guys in the shape of a pacifier leave me cold.

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If I had to pick my favorite Olympic logo it would probably be Barcelona or LA's stars in motion. if Rio had used their bid logo for their Olympic logo it would've been one of my favorites as well. The three guys in the shape of a pacifier leave me cold.

Yes I just can't warm to their olympic logo either, but I love the Paralympic one!

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I don't like the shape of the logo and I don't think it's terribly creative to use it to frame national flags. Sorry.

It's not just being used to frame national flags, though, is it?! That is just one use that the logo is being put to.

The fact that it is able to be used like that is unique in Olympic logo design and that, amongst other things, makes it innovative and distinctive.

Try, for example, using Rio's logo to infill with flags. Err...doesn't work.

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