31 July 2012

Tuesday Tune: Blur - This Is A Low

27 July 2012

The London 2012 Logo Has Gone The Distance

After seven years of planning, wrangling and controversy, a budget of billions, crackdowns on illegal shop displays, and last-minute security panics, the Olympics are finally here. Tonight Danny Boyle’s much-anticipated opening ceremony kicks off three weeks of sport in east London. But whether you’re a diehard fan who will catch every minute of the men’s handball, or you’ve fled the country until the whole show blows over, there’s one aspect of the Games which it’s been impossible to avoid anywhere in Britain – that logo.

Unveiled back in 2007, it’s fair to say that the angular, neon-coloured “2012” design by Wolff Olins didn’t go down too well. Seb Coe was forced to defend it at the time, claiming “we don't do bland”. Unflattering references to Lisa Simpson and swastikas followed and the internet became awash with creations from people who thought they could do better using London’s established visual references - the Thames, Big Ben, and Harry Beck’s iconic tube map.

Producing a visual identity for the Olympics was always going to be a challenge – the worldwide exposure of the Games is unparalleled, and something painfully cool in 2007 may well have appeared dated five years down the line. I wasn’t a huge fan when I first saw it (along with seemingly everyone else) but in the flesh, on the banners dotted around London and the other host areas, it definitely works, along with the “sporty” font.

It would have been less of a headache for the Games organisers to unveil a logo based around the Thames or the Union Jack, but they would then have been castigated for playing it safe. You certainly can’t please all the people all the time when making decisions of this scale, but Locog should be applauded for taking a risk on a bold, memorable design. Personally, I have come to love the logo - just not those creepy one-eyed mascots.

Originally published at Dale & Co.

17 July 2012

Tuesday Tune: Alt-J - Something Good (Live)

The incredible Alt-J perform 'Something Good' live. The band have been tipped for the Mercury Music Prize and if they won it would be well-deserved.