The cheesiest show on earth
Posted 15 March 2011
Like many Brits today I felt a greats sense of pride as I logged on to enter the lottery of the ticket allocation for the 2012 games. That feeling soon diminished when confronted with the splash page on the 2012 website, an obvious photoshop globe of unsophisticated bland. If you type "world sport" into istock I bet you get similar results.
The visual above looks like it sprang from a mood board for a new 02 endorsed Simon Cowell sports talent show, miles away from our innovative Olympic brand.
London 2012 Olympics / on Vimeo.
Otl Aicher's visual language for the Munich games of 1972 is still regarded by many as the standout, I loved the way supporting artists, including Brit Allen Jones, were used to give an abstract edge to the promotional material. Other personal favourites are the posters of April Greiman and Saul Bass for the 1984 LA games, they show an art aesthetic that take the posters into another dimension.
I hope the Olympic visual communications team up their game, in my opinion the 2012 brand was instantly iconic when it was revealed but it's starting to become a classic example of a fantastic brand being diluted by poor execution.
Posted by Daniel Holmes
Filed under // Advertising Branding
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