Olympic Branding Part 1: Failed First Impressions

“If, in the business of communication, image is king, the essence of this image, the logo, is the jewel in its crown.”  - Paul Rand

I am fascinated by the Olympics. There are hardly any sports that don't excite me, but for some reason, I was not optimistic about the London installment. The source of my pessimism started with the logo designed by Wolff Olins.

Branding is about differentiation, and a logo is meant to capture elements that make the subject unique.  

Designers succeeded in differentiating London's logo from others in Olympic history. Immediately recognizable and memorable, it was the first logo to incorporate flourescent pink and purple - a trend carried on to the uniforms of volunteers, venues and flower-beds across the country. 

But it was almost universally hated and I agreed wholeheartedly. 

London's problem was not with it's colors. The failure was in it's design:  

• It had no intuitive meaning. No story. No appropriate one at, least. And certainly none that represented what we know and love about the city of London
• It was simply the numbers "2012" reinterpreted and rearranged. Easily rearranged into another inappropriate logo
• It's shape was fractured, disconnected, incongruent and broken 
• It brought to mind the grafitti of a downtown alley you wouldn't dare walk alone at night
• It invoked the British punk movement, hooliganism, a clash against society - hardly Olympic values 
• It looked like a comic book explosion when rockets on rooftops already had enough spectators worried
• The "zero" was shaped like a stop-sign, and the outline like London's un-grid-like streets. Fitting given how crowds controversialy stayed away from downtown businesses to avoid congestion
• Adding insult to injury, was Wenlock, the official mascot. Two years before Games, there were over 17,000 webpages comparing Wenlock to a giant penis. I can only imagine what that number is today.

Rationalizations from designers were lost in the noise of criticism, and in branding, public perception is all that matters.

Consider it in contrast with the Rio 2016 Logo created by Tatil Design:

• It is harmonious, warm, flowing, and organic. 
• It doesn't require much interpretation to conjure a message of unity. No similar words come to mind when looking at the London logo - just questions. 
• The interlocking figures capture the contagious energy, exuberance and festive atmosphere of the city's Carnival

Most importantly, the Rio logo is human. The Olympics are remembered for it's athletes the triumph of human spirit. 

Not until Barcelona 1992 was a human figure represented in an Olympic logo, and it became recurring theme in Nagano 1998, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008, and Vancouver 2010. 

According to the Olympic Charter: "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." The logo successfully marries the spirit of the city with that of the Games. 

Organizers have taken an encouraging first step, but there is far more to the brand than it's aesthetics. 

A logo alone does not make the Games. To further Rand's analogy: The conduct of a King does more for his image than the the jewel that adorns his crown. 

Stay tuned.