Since I left the office this evening and turned the radio on I’ve been so immersed in the (entirely predictable) torrent of nastiness, ignorance and cynicism coming from… well.. practically everywhere as far as I can tell… that I really wanted to take this quick opportunity (before I put the kids to bed – why won’t they go to bed when I tell them anyway? When did ignoring Dad become the national sport? Jesus).
Anyway. Yes. I just wanted to take this quick opportunity to say that the new London 2012 logo is absolutely bloody brilliant. It’s funny and enthusiastic and modern and it resists the very difficult-to-resist temptation to irony or archness or superiority
All of this is especially impressive when you think that everybody in the studio must have known that nothing but a truck-load of shit awaited whatever they came up with (irony is a good insulator against the kind of corrosive cynicism that awaits any kind of large scale creative endeavour these days. If you’re ironic you can always say “hey, you guys! Can’t you see? We were being ironic!”)
Anyway, no irony here. Just enthusiasm, energy and authenicity. Like I said, I like it (unlike various witless bloggers (according to equally dismissive Metro), The Daily Mail (obviously) and just about everyone on The Guardian’s message board (among others).
I like it Steve but I don’t know how I’ll feel by 2012. Good I hope.
It reminds me of the set of Dance Energy (?), youth TV from the mid-80s.
Yep, Paul, it was indeed called Dance Energy. It was on on Monday nights on BBC2 after the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It was presented by Normsky who I think ended up getting married to Janet Street Porter of all people. Oh the nostalgia! 🙂
Agreed – it’s just fine. And who cares? The exciting bit is the 500 acres of WWII bombs and radioactive waste that’s being turned into something good.
I think it’s a grower.
It looks like dayglo graffiti. Not a suitable look for the Olympics. They should have held a competition for great British designers (of which we have no shortage) to come up with their own design. Instead they’ve made something that 90% (a fair estimate?) of the public cannot connect with. What a disappointment.
Thanks Steve
you have been astute, you are the first but will not be the last
have a look at my entry on
http://blog.london2012.com
Hi Steve,
I agree with you completely, I really like it. And to think what it could have been, I expected with dread another reworking of tired ‘London icon’ ideas it’s so refreshing. It makes me believe there’s real integrity behind the 2012 team, a lazy ‘london’s heritage’ approach would have said to me that all the ‘doin’ it for the kids’ guff was just a cycnical ploy to win the bid, and now we’re back to the real thing – Rule Brittania etc etc.
I’m hoping that one of the key success criteria for the project was ‘must be roundly panned by Daily Mail and Daily Telepgraph’. TICK 😉
I really don’t like to joing a rolling bandwagon and I’d really like to like it. Or at least think it does its job. The thing that really pisses me off is the writing of London as ‘london’ in that fucking terrible crapola 12 yr old’s font. Why oh why oh why oh why.
Am I alone in thinking that if I hear one more track off of Sgt. Peppers’ I will, like, scream?
No. You are not alone. And it’s not even the anniversary yet is it? Still, I’m thinking of getting on the Pepper bandwagon myself and recording a version of the album for my blog…
Sorry Steve, but I agree with the rest of the country. I really dont like it at all. I think its tacky and does not represent Great Britain at all. Its not even ‘epileptic’ friendly as its causing seizures! Still, its given people something to talk (moan) about.