2012 Olympics logo debuts to whalesong

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell clearly spent too much time in the chill-out room absorbing whalesong from her iPod at the "star-studded" launch of the 2012 Olympics logo in London's Roundhouse earlier today, since she described the rather frightening graphic as both "an invitation and an inspiration" as VIPs battled to verbally …

[Robert G Ward]

map of France?

it is just me, or does this logo look like a map of France?

anyway, what was wrong with the old one?

[ian]

Blow job

Does anyone else see the logo as an abstract representation of a big haired woman (possibly Macy Gray) giving someone a blow job?

[Anonymous Coward]

Dance monkeys, dance.

My colleagues and I think it looks like a dancing monkey. Can anyone else see this?

[/\/\j17]

Let's Hope It's True...

..."the logo is 'modern and will be dynamic, evolving in the years between now and 2012'..."

Yup, lets hope it's true that it will keep evolving and by around 2010 it might have become something that doesn't look like a 5-year old's first attempt on their Etch-A-Sketch.

[Parmesan]

My immediate reaction

to the logo was, "Good God! How Hideous!" I guess that many will have a similar reaction. It looks like a picture of vomit, as rendered by Picasso.

[James]

What is it?

It looks like a bent old person with a walking stick....

What is it meant to be?

As a design it's fragmented, uncohesive and meaningless. How much did they pay for this?

[censored]

If you squint...

...it looks like a fat man with an afro (on the right) squatting to give 'hand relief' to a thinner man on the left.

[James]

Clothes, New and Emperor

Having looked at the pretenscious rubbish on the Wolff Olins site I'm more inclined to think of the Emperors new clothes with everyone falling over themselves to say how wonderful the Logo is. When it's a total mess.

Suggest El Reg gives a prize to the most original description of what it looks like.

I'll go for random bird poo .... (even if a bit more colourful).

[bambi]

WTF?

Is that honestly our Olymic logo? Yer not takin the piss or owt?

Jesus, no wonder they didn't want to give it to us in the 1st place.

[Andrew]

Title

Ill have some of whatever monkey boy is smoking.

[Yves Kurisaki]

Was this an analogy?

"..the logo is modern and will be dynamic, evolving in the years between now and 2012.."

Did she mean it will get ten times bigger just like the Olympic budget is doing or will it provide a select group of graphic designers with an oversized pay cheque just like the construction of the Olympic facilities will stuff the pocket of a select few construction firms?

Whatever she meant I'm sure it will somehow benefit numerous locals for years to come and maybe bring us a step closer to world peace and the end of poverty... empty oral waffle tends to do that, or so they say.. I love that Olympic spirit!!!

[Pete Sowerby]

Euro

It looks like a cobbling together of countries.

Top Left: Britain?

Bottom Left: Portugal?

Bottom Right: Italy?

Top Right: Germany?

Middle: Luxembourg?

[Baht At]

looks rather fascist to me

kind of appropriate considering the government we have.

[Anonymous Coward]

Evo .... ???

"evolving in the years between now and 2012"

It will certainly need to do that.

If somebody was to pass a rule that the cost of a logo design could not exceed fifty pounds, the so-called prof's might leave the design work to amateurs, who would most certainly do a better job.

[Ashley Stevens]

London takes it up the arse

Clearly this depicts London taking it up the arse from a man with the Olympic logo on his head. This probably refers to the fact that Londoners will be paying for the Olympics for a generation.

[Anonymous Coward]

I Second the Blow Job

Everyone here clearly sees a blow job happening in that picture.

What was wrong with the old logo? It's not as if these games are really going to be any different than past games. I guess there will be more fish and chips and curry and peas but that's about it.

[Nev]

Blue Peter

Blue Peter should've run a competition

and got some school kids to design one.

Would've looked better and cost way way less!!

[JakeyC]

Re: Blow job

From the BBC's '606' comments pages (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A23431826):

"It looks like Lisa Simpson giving oral relief of a sexual kind to Bart".

It does, as well. It's like one of those magic eye things - cross your eyes and move it back and forth. Oh, and have a look at the logo while you're down there, love.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ashamedly ...

Yes, I see the blow job ...

[bob_blah]

Gobbie or Aussie?

Yup, I can see the blowjob.

The other option is that they are trying to attach themselves to the 2000 Sydney Olympics which, if you ask any Aussie they will quickly remind you, was 'the greatest Olympics ever'. The bit with the Olympic rings in it is a pretty close outline of Australia (sans Tasmania, which isn't really part of Australia anyway).

[Matt Underwood]

Don't worry!

Yes I too thought it was gobsmackingly awful when I saw it. Luckily there's a get out clause in more whale speak.

From the london2012 site, " the new emblem is modern and will be dynamic, evolving in the years between now and 2012."

Evolving eh? Ah. So they've got a chance to have another stab or two at it before we settle on the real one.

Matt.

[Tel]

It's a disgrace.

A total eyesore, the logo is an eye-curdling epileptic seizure-inspiring animated migraine.

To think my taxes are getting wasted on this.

It's a disgrace.

[Andy Black]

Lisa Simpson giving head

To quote Ken

"That message of welcome and diversity was one of the main reasons for London's success in winning the Games.

"We offer the world the same exciting message that in 2012 every athlete and every visitor will feel at home in our city."

Please come, come, come...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cubik

Now that you point it out, I am unable to get Macy Gray out of my mind. She is on the right, leaning to the left, and the man's thing is square.

I think the logo looks like something from an old 808 State record or something from the rave era, but that is probably because I am stuck in the rave era.

[Kevin Sedgley]

Jagged Whalesong

Lisa Simpson giving head to a krypton factor puzzle.

[Anonymous Coward]

ot very original

erm, that appears to be just the numbers "2012" drawn very badly with the word london in the 2 and olympic symbol in the 0.... could have come up with a better logo at age 6

[Anonymous Coward]

"modern and will be dynamic, evolving in the years between now and 2012"

i.e. even we think its crap, but we have 5 years to find a better one.

[Anonymous Coward]

Random shapes

Yep, blow job is the clearest I can see, otherwise totally meaningless, unless it is supposed to be an abstract English Rose, which will of course offend the Scots, Welsh, Irish and any other minority ethnic groups.

[paul]

RE: blow job

it hadn't occurred, but that image is now forever sullied.

thank you.

I shall of course take great pains to inform all and sundry of it remarkable likeness.

:D

[Anonymous Coward]

Re:Blow job

Looks more like anal sex to me

[Patrick Bateman]

I guess

they were told to "paint what comes from within", so they did their breakfast. Look, there's a little tomato... :D

[Martin Gregorie]

People's Olympics, people's participation?

If this mess (exploding London, big-hair bj or whatever) aka the Olympic symbol is to "evolve" during the run-up to the Olympics, I sincerely hope that its evolution will be in the shape of contributions from "the people" and will not turn out to be a perpetual cash cow for Wolff Olins.

....but I'm not holding my breath.

[Anonymous Coward]

I see a swastika. I can't be the only one

If you open an extra tab in your browser go to the wikipedia page for swastika about half way down, and then flip back and forth between El Reg's London Olympic logo and "The Flag of Kuna Yala" or the red one "in the Western world, since World War II ..." i see a similarity. (or a mirror image?)

I personally prefer to see the swastika as a global and positive symbol, and not the hateful icon than recent history has pushed upon us in "the west", so it doen't bother me too much. If you're doing the visual comparison on Wikipedia then read about this ancient classic symbol, "The term is derived from Sanskrit svasti, meaning well-being".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika (what Wikipedia says)

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Swastika (what El Reg thinks it says)

Of course, take everything on Wikipedia with a pinch of salt.

[Campbell]

Yet again

another piece of crap winds up earning the creator a tidy sum, All because the jerk who commisioned it and the assholes invited to the unveiling are afraid to speak their minds and tell it like it is.

This Wolff Olins mob should have been told "it's shite, do it again" but no lets make up some flowery speech so nobody get offended, hey maybe someone will like it.

Bah!!! I am offended by this eyesore and looking at it, it means absolutely fuck all to me.

Have we become so used to lies and political correctness we simply can't see what's right and true anymore?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sexual act...

I have also read on the BBC news website under the comments for this logo that someone else suggests it looks like some oral action going on! They say it looks like Lisa Simpson going down on Bart!

Think it's safe to say this logo is going to be a laughing stock on the whole world! It looks like something you'd expect to see in a primary school arts class. They'd done the same thing for about a £1 instead of 1 million pounds, which I suspect we paid for it!

Think I'll become a millionaire and create rubbish logos like him.....!

[Dogbyte]

Symbolic of...

The taxpayer being shafted perhaps? Once you have the Lisa Simpson image in your head it just won't go away.

[H2Nick]

Again, easy to spend other people's money

...like Westmister council last week re new street lights.

BTW - agree with the BJ observations !

I can only hope that the new logo is widely recognised as the BJ logo in future...

[Patch Tuesday]

it's one of them graffiti tags isn't it?

by ZOR.

[Simon Oxlade]

Bag of w**k

Without a doubt the single worst logo I think I have ever seen. It it desperately wanting to be 'hip' or 'street' or 'urban' becos dat's wat da kidz wan. Innit?

It's embarrassing. If this is what they've come up with (especially after the older one which was perfectly fine), I dread to think what's going to happen at the opening ceremony.

Shallow, infantile, out-of-date nonsense. Why can't our capital city warrant a capital "L" for heaven's sake.

Utter, utter toss.

[Steve]

Sweet jesus....

a/ Which complete idiot ever approved a proof of that and I take it we can now assume the organising committee is full of yes men/yes bints fearful of disagreeing with anything.

b/ How much did the artist take them for?

It's worse than one of Alsops' masterplans for renovating/turning into a theme park some old industrial town.

Even the Web 2.0 crowd could have done better - at least a nice 'Beta' logo would have meant they could have changed it

[Anonymous Coward]

Inspired!

I have to say I think it is inspired!

A logo so awful that a hasty redesign is necessary, gathering huge interest from the world media and publicity for the 2012 games!

Please let it be this and not a sign of things to come…

[anon]

Eye Of The Beholder...

1) Has any logo for anything ever been received well? I guess people just don't get logos...

2) Anyone who interprets this logo as depicting a sex act performed by a child - even a cartoon child - needs to get some therapy! Maybe El-Reg can pass your details on to the relevant authorities...

3) The 0 in the 2012 reminds me a bit of the old Newham Council logo in shape and colour - so not totally irrelevant since that's the borough where the games will be based.

[Dancing Skunk]

Arse, but...

Whilst it is patently arse, whichever colour you choose, if you squint I think the numbers represent the home countries, if somewhat loosely.

Barts torso: England

Lisa's head: Northern Ireland

Bart's legs: Scotland

Lisa's body and hand: Wales, with Ynes Mon (Anglesey) in the middle.

I claim my £400,000 fee thank you.

Skunk

[Neil]

Dancing?

If you tilt your head to the right it looks like a naked dancing man with his wee fella hanging out.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sign the petition anyone?

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/12539.html

[JakeyC]

...or 69...

Flip it vertically in Paint and you get some girl on Don King 69 action.

[Lloyd]

The petition

They've linked a petition to it but the traffic's now so high the site's falling over:

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/change-the-london-2012-logo.html

[Anonymous Coward]

What a load of rubbish...

It looks like Cyril Sneer from 'The Raccoons' being kneed in the balls...

Petition signed. They can't get rid of the 5 coloured rings!