Olympics Logo Critiqué

by Sam Kuo
June 28, 2005

So there are five candidate cities for the 2012 Olympics; London, Madrid, Moscow, New York City and Paris. I have no idea about the details of the proposals, the chances of any one city or the politics behind all this. However, if the decision were solely based on the logo designs submitted by the respective city organizations, and if I were the omnipotent judge and jury, then here are my critiqués and judgement:

	(4/5) NYC 2012 combines the Statue of Liberty with a citizen (of the world) to create an image of celebration. This is very cleaver. I am very impressed with the newness of the design especially since the Statue of Liberty is a symbol that is overused and has become a visual cliché. But here the torch has a bigger meaning symbolizing both freedom and the Olympic spirit.
	(4/5) Paris 2012 uses the S in Paris and the 2 in the year to create a heart. Simple yet implies many things. Paris is for lovers there's no doubt of that and the Olympics is a time to celebrate the coming together of nations to compete in sports not war so it fits in neatly. Another plus is that the S and the 2 are still easily readable. In other words, the designer didn't have to shoe-horn the idea into the design, it fits naturally.
	(2/5) London 2012 uses the Olympic colors weaving through the typography of London 2012. The idea, I guess, is the tying together of the nations of the world as the games permeates throughout London. I really wish there was more to it. I'm afraid this is too literal and representative for my taste. There is nothing transcending in the design and we are stuck with a visual representation of a weak idea. That's it. Not much of an idea. Sorry.
	(2/5) Moscow 2012 I thought communism was dead. We know it's a rendition of a Kremlin building because it was used in the much better 1980 Olympics logo held at Moscow. Isn't there anything else one could use to symbolize Moscow/Russia? Why is it in a box? Red Square? Come on, you can do better. The "hand drawn" image tries to make it more human, I guess, but it looks more like a stock market chart from 2000.
	(1/5) Madrid 2012 Wow, this is just bad. The "flame" is not much of an idea to begin with but the rendition is amateurish and sad. There's nothing that reflects the city. It's just a flame. I did a little research and found out another version of this logo had 2M12 for the year. The M can stand for thousand and for Madrid. That is at least an idea and they should have stuck with it. Me thinks this was an example of design by committee. Just watch any episode of The Apprentice and you'll see how non-creative business people try to solve visual communication problems.

Conclusion:
Both logos for New York City and Paris reflect the Olympic spirit. But, again as judge and jury, I have to give the edge to New York City.

So New York City would get the Olympics...oh dear god! The money is on Paris for real.

The announcement will be made on July 6, 2005.