CR Blog
2012 Olympic Typeface To Be Announced
Posted by Patrick Burgoyne, 1 April 2009, 9:24 Permalink Comments (44)
CR understands that, later today, the official typeface for the 2012 London Olympics will be announced. Among those being considered are a bespoke face, Gill Sans and Times, but the current favourite is thought to be Comic Sans.
A source at the Olympic Delivery Authority has revealed that a number of routes had been considered by the ODA's committee, including commissioning a bespoke typeface but that this latter idea was rejected on grounds of cost. A quintessentially British typeface, such as Times or Gill Sans was also considered but the former was rejected due to its association with a particular media outlet that was not one of the Games' founding media partners, the latter was also rejected due to what CR understands were "concerns over the private life of its creator".
The committee, made up of Olympics stakeholder groups including community leaders, faith groups and sponsors' representatives is thought to favour Comic Sans because it meets many of the benchmarks laid out for Olympic projects. "London 2012’s ambition is to create a Games for everyone, so what better than a typeface that is used by everyone? The committee felt that this particular font had a friendly, universal appeal that would ensure maximum buy-in across all stakeholder groups," says our source. "Its form is inclusive yet consistent and has incredible flexibility to encourage access and participation. This font sums up what London 2012 is all about - an inclusive, welcoming and diverse Games that involves the whole country. It builds upon everything that the organising committee has said about reaching out and engaging young people, which is where our challenge is over the next three years."
It was also felt that Comic Sans would be particularly suitable to work with the Olympics logo and that its use would represent considerable cost savings due to the fact that it is already installed on most computers. The committee also felt that Comic Sans would represent a more sustainable alternative over a serif face in that "it would need far less ink to print each letter without all those little feet at the bottom".
We have had no official statement from the ODA to confirm the story at this time but expect news later today.
UPDATE
CR reader Sander Baumann has contacted us with what purports to be a leaked preview of the wayfinding system which may have been designed for the games
44 Comments
Was Comic Sans created on April Fool's Day? :)
2009-04-01 09:52:06
Good on them, I still don't get why Helvetica is used when Arial is just as good and already free. What do the Swiss know anyway.
And as for Eric Gill's personal life, you can definitely see the perversion those God empowered Christians are talking about in the lower case 'g'.
If you'd like some insight into Vince Connare, the man behind the legendary Comic Sans, his blog is here: http://vinceconnare.wordpress.com/
2009-04-01 09:58:37
Hee, and indeed; hee.
;-)
2009-04-01 10:03:10
April fools?
2009-04-01 10:03:41
Comic Sans?... Reeks of April Fools.
2009-04-01 10:04:31
Hehe :D
Can you imagine if it really happened?
2009-04-01 10:07:57
C'mon guys, can it be more obvious?
Every post I read today will be met with a large amount of scepticism!
2009-04-01 10:11:02
Oh now I get the logo. It's just been a long slow-burning April fool joke - woo hoo tomorrow we get to see the proper logo
2009-04-01 10:17:36
Did they announce the actual typeface used on April 1 too?...
http://getset.london2012.com/assets-uploaded/images/16x9/small/0df0903c60caeb294f8dc5122e583c911.jpg
Bloody awful !
2009-04-01 10:20:17
and has it been designed by Alan Shearer before he takes over at Newcastle FC later today...?
2009-04-01 10:23:30
Oh dear. A lame attempt at an April fool.
2009-04-01 10:37:07
Comic Sans is ace! ha ha! Love the logo though and all that laugh at it will feel bad when they understand how good it is!
Michael
http://www.studio-bodhi.com
2009-04-01 10:50:44
This HAS to be an April fools!!!!
2009-04-01 11:20:55
The choice of Comic Sans seems very "today." But it lacks the timeless qualities of great branding - take a look at the unbelievable history that the Bass ale brand has... http://www.jkr.co.uk/design-gazette/
2009-04-01 11:28:14
Dear CR,
Must try harder next year ;)
2009-04-01 11:34:28
“it would need far less ink to print each letter without all those little feet at the bottom”. hahaha. me and my boss totally fell for this. Shreeks hallowed round the office. Not comic Sans. Good one CR.
2009-04-01 11:43:55
It appears the entire identity was one big April Fools
http://www.betleywhitehorne.com/bwlog/2009/04/london-2012-april-fool/
2009-04-01 11:44:35
Lame indeed. The only April Fool here is CR. If this is the best you can do you need to review your own creativity. Tut, yawn, tut.
2009-04-01 11:46:44
Fantastic - I have always considered Comic Sans to be a terribly underrated font among the 'graphic design elite', while its significance as a font loved by the general public has been ignored for too long.
To see Comic Sans finally being used in a context as significant as the Olympics should herald a new beginning for the typeface and will hopefully lead to it finally gaining the respect it has deserved for so long.
Maybe we could finally see its use in established news publications such as the Telegraph and the Guardian, or maybe its use in logos - I have always believed that Versace, Hugo Boss, Asda and Nike in particular would benefit from the use of Comic Sans in their logos and literature.
2009-04-01 12:02:02
Come on all you haters out there. This is simply good hearted fun. Anyone critiquing CR's creativity here should just have stayed in bed today. Boooooo.
2009-04-01 12:42:25
Another interesting bit of news today - try adding this to the end of any URL in YouTube:
&flip=1
2009-04-01 13:15:48
I heard they were working on a new typeface called "Wiff-Waff", described as 'slightly scruffy with a strong classical element, largely unintelligible to anyone outside the home counties'.
2009-04-01 14:06:24
Hmm. Agree with Robert. Slagging on the Olympics comms. is sooooooo 2007.
2009-04-01 14:09:05
well lets face it. It can't get much worse than the epileptic - inducing - stuck - in - the - 80's - new kid on the block - mulletsville - excuse of a logo
Word.
2009-04-01 14:15:37
PS. I have nothing against mullets.
2009-04-01 14:16:37
I think this is hilarious. We almost believed it here, and that maybe says something about the logo...
http://www.freddesign.co.uk/
2009-04-01 15:05:05
Other than the design community, it would be interesting to see who else would complain or even notice if Comic Sans was used :)
Also:
San Serriffe anyone?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Serriffe
Have a read through its a great hoax.
2009-04-01 15:09:58
Brilliant.
2009-04-01 15:40:20
I've always had the opinion that those "little feet" on type used entirely too much ink. And now the Olympic Delivery Authority has confirmed my anxiety. Now on to a serious subject: anyone want to buy a bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn, NY? Happy 4.1.09
Bob Callahan
2009-04-01 19:09:24
Try harder CR! heehee
2009-04-01 19:25:14
This has to an april fool's day joke. Comic Sans? Well, I guess with such a bad start on the logo, everything else has to match up.
2009-04-02 04:35:12
Beware what comes to pass...
2009-04-02 05:44:14
send in the clowns... oh no wait don't bother, Boris is already here.
2009-04-02 08:31:10
I fell for this, but mainly because I wouldn't put anything past the 2012 olympic creative team. Still can't get over the logo that looks like Lisa Simpson giving a blow job!
2009-04-02 08:32:35
No word of a lie, I just received an email from Creative Review promoting their Click digital event... and it was all written in Comic Sans.
Is this some kind of sick joke? It's April 2nd! Please.
2009-04-02 13:45:21
This must be a April fools joke..
i must agree with Michael Murdoch, i think that logo is really nice and it's something we need to sit back and take in, instead of screaming "No i don't like it" and demanding it to be changed, chill out and try to understand something before shooting it down . . .
2009-04-02 15:43:08
oh my word i can't believe i almost fell for that! i was getting so angry until i realised that yesterday was aprils fools! man that would be so bad.
2009-04-02 16:54:59
Haha, I love it.
2009-04-03 13:36:14
I actually was stressing out at this article!
2009-04-04 16:34:06
Good! Bruno will be pleased
2009-04-05 16:01:49
A joke...WhEw...good one CR. Assholes...lol..
2009-04-09 21:07:41
I cannot believe something as trivial as this is causing so much debate. I almost fell for it being serious as I hadn't seen the date before I started reading but everyone's comments put me straight! I really hope this is an April fool...or it's just another boob in the Olympic budget planning.
http://www.sallylester.wordpress.com
2009-04-24 10:42:04
As for most creatives, the 2012 identity has definately grown on me... But what on earth is that (LONDON) font used. Arrrrgh.
2009-07-14 13:48:42
finally i got it here what i was looking since 4 years..!!!! BRAVOOOOO
2010-07-14 08:27:54
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