The dust has settled since the launch of the London 2012 logo. It’s a design that received criticism from the general public and the design community alike and even now, four years on from its badly scripted unveiling it still has few fans. I’ll state now (like I did back in 2007) that I am a fan (though I do have criticism for the launch and the language used to explain the design concept). The Olympic Games has always been about sports men and women striving to be the best and win medals for their countries, but the games have a major commercial interest too. The world will be watching these games so big brands pay big money to be in partnership.
I believe commercial partnerships were high up on the project objectives and this affected the design decisions in creating the 2012 logo (and this is absolutely fine). When we were told “It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world…” we all knew that was rubbish. It’s always a mistake to try to explicitly tell someone how they should feel about a logo or brand before any groundwork gets done. Those feelings come later.
It’s a responsive logo design
If we ignore the public introduction to the logo that we had back in 2007 and review where we are now it’s clear to see that we have a logo that has no colour yet a very clear form. It works well at large and small sizes and can be modified, resized and positioned to best suit its environment. Its appearance can be changed by its partnering brands so that it harmonises and compliments. In short, it’s a Responsive Logo Design (yes, I did just say that).
Responsive design?
Web design and development practices are ever evolving and the expectation right now is that a website should be responsive i.e. it should understand how and where it’s being viewed and alter its layout accordingly – you can read more about that here. Industry Prophet Andy Clarke put the situation quite simply in this tweet:
But isn’t responsive design about websites?
Most of what we read about responsive design at the moment applies to online content so using the term for a logo design might not make much sense but if we look at the London 2012 logo design again and consider how its being used now, it actually adopts many of the practices used in responsive web design. The London 2012 logo is a shaped window, a viewport, an icon and a brandless brand that can alter it’s appearance based on it’s environmental yet still remain recognisable as the visual identity of the London 2012 Olympics.
It’s easy (and fun) to alter the shapes of the 2012 logo into suggestive forms and to find hidden messages and Olympic Games logos will always atract this kind of attention. I’ve no idea what sporting achievements lay ahead for next year’s games (though I have a feeling that opening and closing ceremonies will not be quite as grande as those of Bejing) but one thing I’m certain of is that Wolf Olins have created a visual identity that is being well executed and is developing into the strong identity that stand out from previous designs.
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I like the Current logo design of Olympic
it pretty cool!