Too enthusiastic?

When I was a kid in high school (or maybe early college), I created an Olympic logo, fantasizing an event that was to be held in Cebu. I figured that there wasn't enough space in the Metro for such a huge event. The logo used a stylized rendition of the "bayanihan" image, with two people carrying a nipa hut.

Any design agency would have a grand, if not harrowing, time designing a logo for the greatest sports event on Earth. If they do it the wrong way, they're sure to get nationwide flak. Londoners weren't too happy about the recently unveiled logo for the 2012 Olympics, and I admit I didn't recognize the pink "2012" until the news pointed it out.

If we're to look at the design rationale, we can more or less determine the design brief that eventually cost the organizers close to $800,000. It should be "dynamic, modern and flexible" and be able to "work with new technology and across traditional and new media networks."

"The new 2012 emblem will use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people. It is an invitation to take part and be involved...It will inspire young people and connect them to sport by putting the inspirational values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on the school curriculum. "

The key word is "youth," and the designers seem to identify the energy of youth as fuzzy, somehow epileptic, strips of color as demonstrated in the promotional video. The visual style is reminiscent of a 1980s MTV interstitial. Health officials, however, weren't too hot about the latter part of the video featuring ripples of vibrant color, which reportedly caused cases of epileptic seizures. (Which reminds me of that news report several years ago when a number of Japanese schoolkids got seizures from watching a Pokemon movie.)

Personally, I'm not too gung-ho about this logo, especially when we're talking about an institution like the Olympics. I'd like to think that there is a way to connect to the youth, them having evolved into a powerful economic demographic, without alienating the older fans and sacrificing the century-old tradition founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. (Coubertin, being French, may be rolling in his grave for this piece of English foolishness.)

To its credit, the 2012 Olympic logo is an eye-catching brekaway from all the Olympic logos we've seen--"London will welcome the world in 2012 like no other city on Earth. " It stands out, and tells everyone that this ain't your grandad's Olympiad. It may not fully grow on people, but it's one to be remembered.

On that note, Tokyo should get a chance at the Olympics soon. Maybe they can better connect to the youth with 3D anime imagery.