Appallinglyawful.

Appallinglyawful.Noteasytofigureout.

Appallinglyawful.Noteasytofigureout.£400,000spentonwhat?

Appallinglyawful.Noteasytofigureout.£400,000spentonwhat?Whatdysfunc>onalcokeheadthoughtthisoneup?

Aflag,asignature,astreetsign.Itdoesnotsell(directly),itiden>fies.Itisrarelyadescrip>onofabusiness.

Itderivesmeaningfromthequalityofthethingitsymbolizes,nottheotherwayaround.

Itislessimportantthantheproductitsignifies;whatitrepresentsismoreimportantthanwhatitlookslike.

ThesubjectmaIerofalogocanbealmostanything.

Shouldalogobeself‐explanatory?

No,itisonlybyassocia>onwithaproduct,aservice,abusiness,thatalogotakesonanyrealmeaning.Itderivesitsmeaningandusefulnessfromthequalityoftheproduct.

Itisstupidtobelievethatalogowilldoitsjobimmediately,beforeanaudiencehasbeenproperlycondi>oned.

Thesubjectofthelogodoesn’tevenma<er.

Surprisingtomany,thesubjectmaIerofalogoisofrela>velyliIleimportance,

andevenappropriatenessofcontentdoesnotalwaysplayasignificantrole.

Ul?mately,theonlymandateinthedesignoflogos,itseems,isthattheybe:

dis?nc?ve,

memorable,

andclear.

Thesubjectofthelogodoesn’tevenma<er.

Surprisingtomany,thesubjectmaIerofalogoisofrela>velyliIleimportance,

andevenappropriatenessofcontentdoesnotalwaysplayasignificantrole.

Ul?mately,theonlymandateinthedesignoflogos,itseems,isthattheybe:

dis?nc?ve,

memorable,

Thesubjectofthelogodoesn’tevenma<er.

Surprisingtomany,thesubjectmaIerofalogoisofrela>velyliIleimportance,

andevenappropriatenessofcontentdoesnotalwaysplayasignificantrole.

Ul?mately,theonlymandateinthedesignoflogos,itseems,isthattheybe:

dis?nc?ve,

memorable,

andclear.

• Forgetbalance,form,texture,rhythm,color,contrast,etc.Intherealworld,clientswantdesignsthat…

• areunique

• areeasytoremember

Becausewhenitgrowsup,itwillbecomeabrand.Somethingpeoplecanimmediatelyrecognize.

Itsoundssimpleenough,butthisisprobablythehardest

partoflogodesign.Foralogotos>ck,ithastobeuniqueandsimple.

London’sbidforthe2012OlympicandParalympicGameswaslikenoother.Itpromisedto:

• inspiretheyouthoftheworld.

• engage,involveandenthuse–tochangelives.

• puttheOlympicandParalympicGamesattheheartofcontemporarylife.

• achievethis,London’sOrganisingCommiIeeneededapowerfulbrand,onethatcouldinspireandengagewithaglobalaudienceoffourbillionpeople.AbrandthatcouldmaketheOlympicandParalympicGamesmorerelevant,accessibleandinspiringthanever.

• Sowhatdysfunc>onalcokeheadwasgoingtoworkonthis?

WolffOlins

• MichaelWolff

• WallyOlins

• 1965

• London,NewYorkandDubai

• FocusonCorporateBranding

• TheseGamesweretobeeveryone’s.

• Theywouldcallonpeopletotrynewthings,togofurther,todiscovernewabili>es.

• Theemblemis2012.Itisunconven>onallybold,deliberatelyspirited,echoingLondon’squali>esofamodern,edgycity.Itcontainsneitherspor>ngimagesnorpicturesofLondonlandmarks,showingthattheGamesismorethanLondon,morethansport.

• Itisforeveryone,regardlessofage,cultureandlanguage.

• Itisdesignedtobepopulated,tocontaininfillsandimages,soitisrecognisableenoughforeveryonetofeelandbepartofLondon2012.

• Forgetbalance,form,texture,rhythm,color,contrast,etc.

• Makeiteasytoremember.

• Whenitgrowsup,itwillbecomeabrand.Somethingpeoplecanimmediatelyrecognize.

• Itsoundssimpleenough,butthisisprobablythehardestpartoflogodesign.Foralogotos>ck,ithastobeuniqueandsimple.

• Itislessimportantthantheproductitsignifies;whatitrepresentsismoreimportantthanwhatitlookslike.