That Olympic logo

Tuesday, 5th June 2007

Cheap and tacky, and so awful that I can't even bring myself to reproduce it here. But Charlie Beckett, director of the LSE's media think tank, begs to differ:

This is more than a logo and is a deliberate contrast to the Candidate city branding. I think what they have here is something that will sing and dance in a digital age. It’s not supposed to be a static, all-embracing image. It will move and develop as the Games story rolls out up to 2012. I predict much mockery in the media which likes to have jolly mascot style logos like World Cup Willie. But this is a lot more interesting - and if you ignore the dreadful brand-speak ... and just relax and enjoy the graphics, you start to see how it might just turn in to a classic for the age of social networking and viral videos.

Danny Finklelstein takes a similar line. I did like World Cup Willie, as a matter of fact. Which makes me feel ancient (again) especially as I'm still reeling from the shock of discovering that, according to this style guru, I'm two years too old to be wearing jeans. Fortunately, another expert comes to my rescue:

I can’t imagine Bob Dylan or Eric Clapton in anything BUT jeans - and neither of them will see 45 again. But, I would not want to see Matt Lucas, 33, in a pair and I’m not sure Ant and Dec can carry them off convincingly. The thought of Tony Blair, John Prescott or Gordon Brown in jeans is just a joke. But historian and TV presenter, Dan Cruickshank, 58, and actor, Sam Elliott, 63 have the devil-may-care style to still walk the jeans walk.It’s not an age issue, at all - it’s one of attitude.

Actually, I think TB looks good in his Levis. But maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better. I mean, I've worn a suit only about twice in the last five years. And I have only one tie, bought from Oxfam back in the mid-1990s.

PS: The Beeb is running alternative logo designs submitted by the public. This one isn't bad. [Thanks, Keith]