<P><IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=307 alt=rings
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed9rings-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <br/>So the much anticipated / extremely controversial
Beijing Olympics are in full swing and despite the issues surrounding the host
country, the games themselves have been incredibly entertaining. From a visual
perspective the whole production is off the charts. If you didn’t see the
opening ceremonies, do yourself a favor and <A
href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/nbcencore/index.html" target=_blank>watch
the replay</A>. I can’t even begin to describe it so I’ll just say there was a
roll-up LCD screen about the size of a football field and a mass-scale drum
display that looked like some sort of giant human <A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SGwDhKTrwU" target=_blank>Tenori-On</A>.
</P>
<P>Obviously branding and information design are central to each Olympic
experience and while <A href="http://blog.iso50.com/?s=olympic"
target=_blank>I’ve posted a lot on past Olympics</A>, I thought it would be good
to get all of the logos together in one post. It’s very interesting to scan
through these; the stylistic transitions say a lot about the country and
historic era of origin. Helsinki kicked off the modern approach, but then
Melbourne and Rome had to go and screw everything up for 8 years. Tokyo ‘64
started what turned out to be a 24 year winning streak of incredibly well
thought out, masterful logo designs which continued unabated until Seoul decided
to kill the party with something that can only be described as inexplicably bad.
From then on out it was a lowest common denominator free for all of middle of
the road mediocrity. This, of course, coincided with the dawn of cheap,
accessible desktop publishing where everyone all at once decided to forget
everything they had ever learned about typography and color theory. I think this
was also around the time that the Olympics was maturing into the massive
corporate money machine it is today, so the shift in style makes a lot of sense
given the new set of imperatives driving the branding (i.e. MAKE AS MUCH MONEY
AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE). </P>
<P>Although there were 8 games prior 1924, I’ve started with Paris as it seemed
to be the first of the modern games that had a specific logo mark associated
with it. Most of the earlier games had posters but nothing you would consider a
logo. Also missing are 1940 (Tokyo > Helsinki) and 1944 (London) which were
both canceled due to World War II. </P>
<P><IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=270 alt=2461261664_f0fd89b2cd_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461261664-f0fd89b2cd-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=270 alt=2461261666_95447c60d1_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461261666-95447c60d1-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=330 alt=2461261672_4d5be4495d_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461261672-4d5be4495d-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=307 alt=berlin
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed9berlin-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=305 alt=2461261674_d84c6ef7e0_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461261674-d84c6ef7e0-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=291 alt=2461261676_302c41cdc8_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461261676-302c41cdc8-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=311 alt=2461261680_f13e85b6bc_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461261680-f13e85b6bc-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=307 alt=rome60
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed9rome60-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=315 alt=2461282580_dd70316ec6_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461282580-dd70316ec6-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=270 alt=2461282586_cb4a9b0304_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461282586-cb4a9b0304-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=354 alt=2461282588_0999b7d982_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461282588-0999b7d982-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=339 alt=2461282590_56656184b0_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461282590-56656184b0-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=270 alt=2461282596_af0762a0d6_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461282596-af0762a0d6-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=270 alt=2461282600_6c454af6ab_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92461282600-6c454af6ab-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=295 alt=2460461747_f457136c23_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92460461747-f457136c23-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=304 alt=2460461749_bbe0467bf5_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92460461749-bbe0467bf5-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0><IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=302 alt=2460461755_f1a0e09522_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92460461755-f1a0e09522-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=303 alt=2460461759_86099d64ab_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92460461759-86099d64ab-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0><IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=307 alt=2460461761_c34ccaa30e_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92460461761-c34ccaa30e-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=284 alt=2460461765_a6fac202d3_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed92460461765-a6fac202d3-o-3.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <br/>And it wouldn’t be completely without a peek into
not-so-distant, yet oh-so-hideous future (London 2012). To tell the truth,
something about this is starting to appeal to me. At the very least I can say I
prefer the 2012 logo to some of it’s more boring ancestors (i.e. 1988-2008).
</P>
<P><IMG
style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px"
height=302 alt=588298440_25319064d9_o
src="http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed9588298440-25319064d9-o-6.jpg"
width=450 border=0> <br/></P>
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