The Look of the games

[DarJoLe]

The first pieces of London 2012 look have gone up in Cardiff. License © All rights reserved by DJLeekee

[Mr Tickle]

Oooh looking good cardiff

What I love the most about Londons tickets is the fact the Olympic rings have such prominence.

[savas]

Looks ok friendly but also quite average. From the distance you see just a plain gradient ... If the white lines which divide the areas were thicker then the banners would look bolder and much better. I miss the individuality

[kevzz]

The first pieces of London 2012 look have gone up in Cardiff. License © All rights reserved by DJLeekee

Still doesn't do it for me. From far it's non distinguishable, just a solid colour background with some words. You wouldn't have know it's an Olympic banner at all. Quite disappointed

[Jonafin]

I like the purple banner... at least it has the rings on it.

[DarJoLe]

You wouldn't have know it's an Olympic banner at all. Quite disappointed

Well I can't imagine they want it to look like just an Olympic banner, seeing as it has to stay up for the Paralympics as well.

[NY20??]

It's usually every other banner that has the rings on it, so only around half of them have to be changed come the Paralympics.

Albeit it's early and that's just one spot in a city that isn't even London, but it does seem like more of those banners should have the rings on them.

[Athensfan]

Still doesn't do it for me. From far it's non distinguishable, just a solid colour background with some words. You wouldn't have know it's an Olympic banner at all. Quite disappointed

I agree. This look is serviceable, but it's bland and unimaginative.

[Rob2012]

This is the effect they're going for I think:

http://www.flickr.co...s/74571557@N07/

[Mr Tickle]

I think it was Darjole that said the look was going to brighten up the country. I have to say I think the effect is lovely. A rainbow of brightness even on a dull day.

[cormiermax]

The colours remind me of Madrid's current bid logo, very vibrant. Great job thus far London!

[NY20??]

Those colors are nice but it isn't very hard to brighten up the UK (or any place for that matter) simply with go-to bright hues. Still wish they had gone for more than diagonal lines and shards.

Also, I wonder how far London will go in applying its Look?

Believe it or not, I remember seeing pictures of toilets and electrical sockets in Beijing decorated with that Look and I distinctly remember a crying figure skater in Vancouver being handed a tissue box applied with those Games' branding.

[adrianme17]

Those colors are nice but it isn't very hard to brighten up the UK (or any place for that matter) simply with go-to bright hues. Still wish they had gone for more than diagonal lines and shards.

Also, I wonder how far London will go in applying its Look?

Believe it or not, I remember seeing pictures of toilets and electrical sockets in Beijing decorated with that Look and I distinctly remember a crying figure skater in Vancouver being handed a tissue box applied with those Games' branding.

Fear not we have branded bog roll - have seen it!

[Athensfan]

I agree with NY20??

Bright, clear hues will brighten anything. They do a good job of that. That's why I called the Look serviceable. It adds some color and lets people know the Games are in town.

In my opinion the aesthetic is still very basic and not particularly distinctive or creative. Pick a few bright colors and add some intersecting lines and you're done.

I do like the pictograms and hope they feature more prominently at the venues.

[NY20??]

As good as the pictograms are, I think it's a bit lazy to feature them in the Look so much. They make sense outside venues for practical purposes, but right along the field of play, I think their inclusions will look redundant. Cyclists racing along a fence decorated with... cyclists.

But if every venue will indeed be done in one color, at least the pictograms will be able to break up the monotony a bit.

[mattygs]

Must say Im not too impressed with the use of the look on those banners.

I am generally pleased at the look and design of these Games, I was a sceptic at first but it has come together generally in a good way. Im still not a huge fan of the logo, but they have made the best of what they gave themselves.

I think the look and angled lines look fantastic when accompanied with the pictograms, but on those banners, it just looks like a single colour , lines on a sheet.

Im sure as a total urban design project this look is going to be a winner, and from what I've seen in vid mockups, the venues will look fantastic - but in terms of this kind of signage, it's abit of a fail.

Yes they add colour , but we can't be serious in saying that is enough.

[afiqnadzir]

london 2012 is just too simple for me..i prefer vancouver, beijing,torino and sochi brand..it has identity

[barrack]

london 2012 is just too simple for me..i prefer vancouver, beijing,torino and sochi brand..it has identity

I agree with you in preferring the other looks, except Beijing. Beijing's look was just too over-the-top. The intricate design PLUS the rainbow colors at EVERY venue. Vancouver's was intricate, but limited colors to tasteful shades of green and blue.

I like how London is pairing a venue and a color for their look.

[kevzz]

I love Vancouver's. It's striking and easily recognisable, a proper Games time look for sure. Unfortunately London's is just nothing. Out of all London's Olympic elements, their look is my least favourite. Too safe to the point of looking under-developed. Now it just looks lazy like someone's not even bothered to put more logos or olympic rings on it. Sorry to say but even the Visa test events branding had more flair to it.

[NY20??]

I like how London is pairing a venue and a color for their look.

Looking at the official video game's stills and footage, I'm worried about how monotonous one color per venue will look.

[BTHarner]

Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney....they all had one main color. It still looked nice.

[olympian]

can anyone post the sydney look of the games? i know atlanta used the grecian theme and squares for theirs

[Athensfan]

Looking at the official video game's stills and footage, I'm worried about how monotonous one color per venue will look.

I agree. All purple with intersecting lines. Not very creative or exciting.

[Mr Tickle]

I love the look of the venues : ))))))))))))))))))))))))

[Rob2012]

It might be too minimalist for some, but I find it to be extremely effective. You might say it's 'servicable' but I think it's much more than that. I think London has really understood and thought about what the Look is for and as a result seem to be putting something together which focuses on how a whole street will look, rather than focussing on what one banner looks like and repeating it.

If you want artwork and beautiful individual banners, then London's clearly isn't a Look you'll like. But taken as a whole I can see this being very memorable and quite striking when it's saturated and repeated across streets. Same with the venue branding.

And the recent photo from Torquay makes me understand more clearly why London's observers criticised Vancouver's street dressing - a criticism I couldn't get when I read it, because I thought and still think it's beautiful, but which makes sense to me when you look at the overall effect of both Looks at street level.

I also think that what London's doing makes the last Summer Games' street dressing look positively old fashioned:

The one thing I would say though, is that London's street dressing seems to rely heavily on saturation. The photo I've posted from Torquay I love, the pictures from Cardiff DarJoLe posted a page or two back didn't have anything like the same impact because the decorations were more sparse. For a more intricate look like Vancouver's you can probably get away with sparsity, but I'm not suire London will.