Critics race in to condemn London's Olympic emblem

OLYMPICS:To some it looked like a graffiti tag, to others like a mosaic of beer mats, but to the organisers of the London 2012 Olympics the pink, blue, green and orange emblem unveiled yesterday is the most significant milestone since winning the bid nearly two years ago. It is also the key to raising hundreds of millions of pounds.

The £400,000 logo for 2012 is described by its creators as dynamic, modern and flexible - suitable for use online and on mobile phones by a generation at ease with new media.

The first feedback from that digital world last night was not altogether encouraging. Within a few hours, an online petition calling for the logo's replacement had gathered more than 3,000 signatures, and websites and television news channels were inundated with almost universally hostile opinions about the design.

Stephen Bayley, founder of the Design Museum, described it as feeble, a "puerile mess, an artistic flop and a commercial scandal", while message boards condemned it as a "broken swastika".

"The predominant emotional feel is more about a sense of disintegration. What I almost see is a map of London divided into boroughs," said Chris Bullar, who teaches creative advertising at the London College of Communication. "The 2012 is difficult at first sight to pick out."

Created by the brand consultants Wolff Ollins, the logo emerged after eight months of consumer-testing by focus groups. It appears in one of four brand colours built around a jagged, chunky jigsaw-style version of the number 2012, and bears the word London and the Olympic rings.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, said the brand was designed to show that 2012 would be "everyone's Games". "There will be more opportunities than ever to participate, be inspired by and be part of 2012," he said.

The point was rammed home at the launch at The Roundhouse, Camden, north London, with a star-studded line-up of British sportspeople on the stage, including double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes, Britain's tennis number one Andy Murray, the Paralympic champion Tanni Grey-Thompson and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

There were big-screen messages of support too from Tony Blair, David Cameron and Menzies Campbell. Blair said: "When people see the brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life. London 2012 will be a great sporting summer, but will also allow Britain to showcase itself."

Jacque Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, said the brand captured the essence of the 2012 Games: "To inspire young people around the world through sport and the Olympic values."

Beyond the grandiose ambitions for the Games, there was also a harsher commercial imperative behind the presentation for an invited audience of 1,000 Olympic stakeholders, advertising agencies, potential sponsors and media representatives. The organising committee has to raise £2 billion from the private sector to stage the Games, on top of the £9.3 billion public sector funding package being used to build the Olympic Park and venues.

Chris Townsend, commercial director of London 2012, hopes the new logo will help secure more top-tier sponsors.

He said it would also kickstart the process of selling £750 million of merchandise, with T-shirts on sale shortly.

"You need the brand to bring the merchandise alive," he said. "It is designed as a proper consumer brand rather than a corporate brand you've seen in other Games and it will stand alongside all the other leading sports brands."

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