24 Comments

It's only when you see these, that you realise what a good job was done for London 2012 Pictograms.

They bear no relation to the Brand Identity of the Commonwealth Games, therefore fight with rather reinforce the branding.

The connection with Indian Folk art is at best a patronising cultural cliché. No better than the boomerang for Syndney or the Greek vase for Athens.

And as usual the mascot is left out in the cold as primitivist symbolism.

On their own aesthetic merits they look clean and interesting enough, but when considering the brand as a whole they don't connect with or support the main brand identity.
Benjamin Martins
2010-01-12 13:03:33

in love with the pictograms - fantastic fusion of the classic silhouette with a national twist, and a beautiful aesthetic twist it is...

not overly sure about the logo though unfortunately - bit too busy for my liking and perhaps could have worked their fusion method on the mascot too - seems like a rather cookie cutter conclusion to a project that started off beautifully...
MA
2010-01-12 13:06:33

I'm glad that our Olympics won't look as bland and as generic as this.

I personally would have liked to see the pictograms have a it more of the detail more in line with the Sanjhi example.
lee
2010-01-12 13:23:47

tony the tiger? not grrrrrrrrrrrreat...
schnabz
2010-01-12 14:32:05

Don't mind the pictograms - quite nice. The logo is a bit fussy. The mascot is just bloody awful.
Ken Walker
2010-01-12 16:09:14

Looks good. Keep up the good work!
xxx
2010-01-12 16:12:29

All three forms reflect a Hindustani (Indian) approach to arts and communication -- they seem, to me, to be true to India's culture as it stands today -- and related to India's cultural history. The busy-ness of the logo in particular is very representative of Indian visual arts. Thank goodness the designers didn't bow to a one-world approach with super-polished -- i.e., denatured -- visual imagery. The tiger mascot is cute, and visually expresses the Indian national character -- hard-working, fierce when need be, and otherwise friendly, warm and full of humor. I wonder if some of the other commenters might not take a look at their thoughts a second time, to see if some kind of cultural limitations are in play in their assessments.
heathquinn
2010-01-12 17:06:06

I love the pictograms. The logos may not suit western tastes, but they are very much in the Indian style, and a hit with the Indians themselves.
Ni
2010-01-13 01:16:06

@heathquinn: Perhaps it is in the straddling of Hindustani and one-world that the work falls down. Either more authenticity *or* more polish. Personally, I think there's opportunity in rejecting the clumsy hat-tip to 'one-world' as you put it and focusing on the cultural.
Greg
2010-01-13 01:35:32

While the elements in their individual states have merits, there is no appropriate overall approach. This is probably where the identity fails. It does feel as though different agencies have worked on the project. So much for 'complicated tendering processes'.
Geo
2010-01-13 05:27:42

Logo man gets sucked into a whirlpool.
Kieran
2010-01-13 09:42:33

I actually really like the pictigrams as it is, even before I read the rationale and the cultural aspects of the approach. Now I have a silly question - if the lungis was worn by men historically would people think the pictigrams be too male bias? Or am I being too literal here? Anyway, I think it looks elegant and different.
LC
2010-01-13 12:37:43

That mascot has got to go. It looks like the bad cartoon art I see in dollar store colouring books.
Paul
2010-01-14 03:03:15

there is a popular west coast indian ditty that goes like this

oh she came from the west-e coast-e
with a lungi on her-e waist-e
and every time she walked -e
the lungi went-e phatta phatt-e

so no male bias.....
y
yakomati
2010-01-14 06:29:57

I think the pictograms are fab.Artistic, dynamic, folksy and truly Indian in spirit. Idiom has done a great job.The logo is nice too. Looking forward to the how the games will turn out.
-A
A
2010-01-15 04:26:52

This came into our mailbox this morning: We think your logo design for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi is sublime: http://www.no-endeavour.cc/2010/02/from-sublime-to-ridiculous.html
Bravo! http://www.no-endeavour.cc
Sonia
sonia manchanda
2010-02-02 08:19:20

purely awesome!!!
Kunal Kumar
2010-02-03 00:21:32

Since no-one else has mentioned it, I'm clearly the only person with a mind filthy enough to be rather concerned about the position of the tiger's tail.....
Grimble
2010-02-18 13:20:21

About the perfection of this or that aspect of logos and symbols... there is sometimes a designer's perfectionism bias that comes into play... but audience reactions matter more than designers' reactions. Design work is done for the public; art is done for oneself. Designers develop in part because they have a perfectionist bias -- and that bias it is a good way to motivate one's self-development. But it's not the same as good design judgment. If it designers' perfectionist biases were the same as good design judgment, designers would also be getting very rich -- as marketers.
heathquinn
2010-04-12 17:54:07

very nice truly indian.
ankita banerjee
2010-05-18 09:05:06

Good work, its really nice, thanks for sharing.
logo design bangalore
2010-07-17 13:04:25

AMAZINGLY NICE ,
THANK YOU FOR SHARING.


KAVAJ BURDAK
KAVAJ BURDAK
2010-09-09 13:52:43

IT IS GOOD THAT NOW IN OUR DELHI THERE CWG WILL HELD.
VAIBHAV
2010-09-24 15:49:42

Awesome! Truly a Strong India!
Nick Alley
2010-11-12 16:29:00

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