61 Comments

lest you forget http://www.davidairey.com/london-2012-olympic-logo-disaster/
Alex Brennan
2011-06-21 12:50:41

It would also have been nice to see a list of artists that were a bit fresher. Most of these artists are already so familiar, aren't there some new people coming up who could be given a bit of exposure?
Paul
2011-06-21 12:56:51

Yes please to Bob and Roberta Smith,
No thanks to everyone else on that list
Geoff
2011-06-21 12:57:46

This just strikes me as crazy. As if the logo, torch, cyclops mascots and bent tower weren't embarrassing enough.

What they're forgetting is that the 72 Munich Olympics had Otl Aicher doing an amazing design job drawing everything together, at the moment 2012 doesn't have that. This could have been a great chance to showcase UK design skills to the world. Seems another opportunity missed.
Michael Constantine
2011-06-21 13:07:57

When art goes tits-up you can usually justify it with some clever-sounding spiel full of metaphors and flimsy sentences, most people don't care enough to pretend to understand and those that do laud it as being the stuff of genius.

When design goes tits-up (in the eyes of a good chunk of the general public, Wolff-Olins logo/branding was a disaster) there's nowhere to hide.

It's a shame because risky design therefore holds more value than risky art because there is an actual risk being taken. By not asking graphic designers to get involved they've successfully navigated towards the safe option.


(and for the record, I love the 2012 branding, just not the way UPS apply it, grim)
Pannett
2011-06-21 13:08:03

What is an artist, but a designer whose only client is their soul.

And wallet.
Ed Wright
2011-06-21 13:08:35

My first response to this was one of annoyance, but can you image the hoo-haa we'd be having if the list DID include some graphic designers? ...Maybe someone (@creativereview?) should unofficially choose 12 designers to do the same and we can celebrate/rip-them-to-shreds when the time comes along with the more arty commissions.

I'd be interested to hear/see how much help the artists have from designers in producing their poster – Can't imagine they'll do it all themselves otherwise the typographers out there might be baying for blood...
Luke Tonge
2011-06-21 13:11:56

I'm surprised they didn't crowdsource it, that seems to be 'bang on trend'.
Rob Pratt
2011-06-21 13:12:43

Well no designers were consulted for the 2012 logo. So why should they bother with some for the posters...?

;-)
Simon Watson
2011-06-21 13:16:04

Here's your chance then CR. Take it into your own hands. Choose 12 great designers to create posters for 2012 Olympics and a feature pitting each one against the artists. It'll be a nice way of demonstrating the difference between a designer who thinks about their audience, subject and purpose and an Artist who does whatever they want to do.
Daniel Roberts
2011-06-21 13:30:36

Artists are much more well known (to the general public) than designers and so they will always generate a lot more publicity. We designers are seen as anonymous service providers.
Whether the artists do a better job is another matter. I particularly hate what Bob & Roberta Smith did with the last D&AD annual.
B
2011-06-21 13:49:11

This maybe an attempt to emulate the creative processes and outcomes of the Munich Olympics 1972. But will it really be possible, for some of these A list artists, to produce works of an equal magnitude or to do such an opportunity and event justice?

Like with the appalling logo/identity. This country needs to think and work a lot harder, if it wishes to equal and surpass previous Olympic graphic work!
Nigel Aono-Billson
2011-06-21 13:55:37

Choosing 12 great designers to go head to head with the artists would, in theory, be a great idea... however this won't be able to happen, as you have to be an official sponsor of the olympics (i.e, spends lots and lots of money!) to be affiliated/make reference to the games in any way.
anon
2011-06-21 13:57:39

I wonder if there'll be an unofficial Banksy edit.
Rixy
2011-06-21 14:24:42

Maybe the design community could pull together and stage an alternative poster competition to be displayed at the Design Museum.
Tony Pritchard
2011-06-21 15:22:32

A collaboration between designers, artists or even Londoners who have no idea about poster production would have been more of a challenging project for the participants and would make a more interesting story.
Marc
2011-06-21 15:37:57

It's as if the whole olympic games launch management process could be parodied in a primetime TV sitcom.
Dan Eastwell
2011-06-21 15:38:53

Tracey Emin to design an Olympics poster? They're off their rockers!
Laura
2011-06-21 17:01:10

great opportunity wasted
Sean Sims
2011-06-21 17:01:22

Anthony Burrill could write RUN AROUND AND THROW STUFF in big letters.
Ted
2011-06-21 17:32:21

I completely agree. Whilst I applaud the brave decision to employ the best british artists to produce different designs, I do feel that a large UK business sector - graphic design - that would have extensive prior experience with such a medium has been completely overlooked. For that, the news is a shame.

However, if it had been outsourced to design agencies, I sure the same old faces would have got the contracts with all too predictable results and we'd be moaning about that instead.
Flint & Tinder
2011-06-21 18:30:07

I think it's an interesting opportunity to see if the artists will be using this as a vehicle to promote their own work, or as an opportunity to promote the Olympics. A more unifying approach would have been to have each artist do a poster, while working with a designer to pull everything together to help tell one connected story.
Susan
2011-06-21 19:11:21

I like the idea myself, will be great to see the interpretations of some of these artists and the result could prove to be more innovative than that of an individual that is a graphic designer for a living.

Look forward to the results.
Jake
2011-06-21 20:23:25

Wish the world's artists/designers could have competed. It brings forth creative sparks and exciting works.
Signed-
S. Van Schaick
1980 XIII Olympic Winter Games Official Individual Poster Artist/Designer
svs
2011-06-21 21:53:37

Just to clarify... Emin's work is crap right? Right? She is (deleted by moderator) right? And her work is crap, right?
Leo
2011-06-22 09:48:00

let's hear it for Bridget Riley... and corporate psychedelia !!
Alan Belcher
2011-06-22 13:52:14

I don't understand this decision either. What about another design competition? Open to professionals and graphic design graduates for example? With a big reward ££££ for the winners. And therefore, the designers would be getting some credit for their work.
Rosanne
2011-06-22 13:54:58

Considering how awful the logo is for the London Olympics, perhaps it's better that designers steer clear of the project. Clearly, the powers that be in the organizing committee have no sense of good design. Why fight a losing battle?
Dave
2011-06-22 14:28:08

I love this idea! As an artist, who uses graphic design as a "tool", I think it's refreshing for "art" to get another chance. Can't wait to see the results :)

P.S. I agree, the 2012 London logo is horrible! My 5 year old niece could have come up with something better.
kreative kaur
2011-06-22 15:10:19

The UK has some of the best and most highly reputed designers in the world, and the best creative schools.

But then the logo is so shameful, that that you could argue the designers have had there chance and blown it!
Curator
2011-06-22 16:35:24

At least its artists not an online competition. But it would have been nice to see the advertising and design industry, who know a little bit about poster design, invited to participate.

How do you rank this vs BAs olympic design idea which is a competition with added Tracy Emin?

I bored on about the way we keep trying to discover unrecognised talent at the expense of using recognised talent here:

http://www.jkr.co.uk/design-gazette/artists-vs-amateurs-its-on/
silas Amos
2011-06-22 17:46:13

the 2012 olympic logo is established as shit

the poster might as well be the same.
philo copenhagen
2011-06-22 21:34:41

The perfect opportunity for an open competition, but who will take it up? Everyone wants the money up front, a commission instead of an open competition. The powers that be will fund the commissioners, but not fund the judges or the wall space, even though it could be easily handled on-line.

Never trust experts!
Skipper
2011-06-23 12:57:58

I don't mind this idea and will keenly await the results (more so than the games if I'm honest - I'm sure it'll lead to a load of fuss and great Sun headlines). I don't think it's a bad thing to have those internationally recognisable names reminding the world at large of our fine art prowess.

I would have like to have seen some designers in the mix though, or better still, some artist / designer collaborations. This may have lead to interesting results - and would have promoted British design off the back of these more recognisable figures.
Craig Thomas
2011-06-23 13:03:29

Alternatively, rather than bitching about another pr-orientated decision from the branding dept. of the LOC how's about putting your preverbial money where your mouth is. There's 12 months to go so why not produce some genuinely inspirational work for 2012 and get it out there to show them how wrong their choice was...

Just a thought
TheMuzzer
2011-06-23 13:14:09

I guess the good news is that hopefully the artists chosen will approach this unshackled - they have no Otl Aicher to compare themselves to. Asking designers to create posters invariably leads to a lot of very expected and 'designy' results - look at that London series a little while ago.
Craig Ward
2011-06-23 13:33:33

They could get the world's greatest artist or designer to make the greatest poster of all time, then they will slap the world's worst logo on the bottom and, hey presto, a turd.

Leave em to it i say!
matt carr
2011-06-23 13:36:28

I have some wax crayons and some old slightly dried up tubes of poster paint..

How do I apply?
Paul Gillard
2011-06-23 13:41:01

Could have been worse.

They could have done one of those awful school kid design competitions. Didn't work for the logo did ti?
Chad's Eye View
2011-06-23 13:47:12

I’m getting pretty bored of seeing the same few artists trotted out to tell us what to look at. Someone like Tracey Emin is good at crapping on and on about themselves, with the excuse that “if you’re not interested, you’re a Charlatan”.

Personally, I don’t really care about her stuff, which seems to rely more on her opinion and her ability to blag, than on the stuff itself. That’s fine, as that is her polemic, and the actual fabric of her art is intrinsically bound to her opinions and her ability to blather on and on in that “Fuck me aren’t I clever” late eighties 'Goldsmiths College of Self-Promotion' way.

What I don’t like about this ‘competition’ is that it allows these people with automatic entry into an arena that young designers and artists are finding more and more difficult to enter at all. For someone to get their idea considered by the Olympic Committee off their own back would be an almost impossible thing to
contemplate.
And that in itself is enough for me to consider this as an initiative which reeks of unfairness.
Willie Ryan
2011-06-23 13:56:21

Nice idea, presumably all of the posters will need to work within the Tate Modern branding?
I think @TonyPritchard comment is a good suggestion...just need permission to use olympic logo!
bluepigcreative
2011-06-23 13:57:46

Design+olympics has always yielded iconic posters. Bob and Roberta Smith, Briget Riley and M.C-Martin will hopefully conjure something memorable, in-keeping with the tradition of great posters. Tracey Emin et al will no doubt produce something which accentuates the predictability of their own 'brand' of art as opposed to anything striking or relevant to the games. A mix/collabortion of artists and designers/illustrators could have been more interesting.

I'll take it all back if I'm wrong.
Michael Lemmetti
2011-06-23 14:18:49

Personally I think this is an inspired idea. Britain is a world leader in fine art in the moment and we should showcase this exceptional creative talent. I can guarantee they will all create something original. Whereas if it had gone to Saville, Farrow, Build, Brody and all the usual suspects we all know we would get tasteful Helvetica 75 with a spot fluorescent all referencing Munich 72 but not bettering it. Which would be nice but NOT ORIGINAL. I would argue that Britain trails Holland, Switzerland and New York in Graphic Design terms and as stated elsewhere the logo is an embarrassment.

We need to champion outstanding British creativity and lets face it on the world stage at the moment our fine artists far outshine our designers. Sad but true. Just check out the GF Smith Olympic poster range from 2009 all pretty, non original.

>Lil_Pete.
Peter Mcglynn
2011-06-23 14:21:26

British artists vs. British designers? What a tedious contest.

I can't help thinking that all this "Britishness" is really missing the point of the Olympic Games. Or, to put it another way, the celebration of British values, diversity, prowess etc. is a poor hook on which to hang the branding of an international sports event. The '72 Munich Games art series posters included work by British, Polish, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Hungarian, Russian, American, Swiss, Austrian and German artists (some of whom were also architects and designers). How things have changed... Do the British public these days even have a sense of art that isn't British?

Britishness could be defined as a strict assemblage of corporate interests (from colonial power to ostensibly powerful brands like Tate Britain, "YBAs" and "Cool Britannia"). While the branding of the 2012 Olympics may be an ugly mess (obviously it is), the triumph of Corporate Britain is already assured. How very British to turn a global event into a parochial showcase...
Simon Palmer
2011-06-23 14:27:14

Artists? Design posters??
Erm, well, it's okay with me. I'd like also to see veterinarians get a chance, and bus drivers.
Bill
2011-06-23 14:30:48

Great idea what about Damien Hirst lets hope they all make posters that make people think not make people think its another poster AND they use them as posters at the venues and around town!
Steve
2011-06-23 14:52:34

NO! because design isn't art, your not artists. I'm being picky,

are these are commissions with a brief? = design

or do they have cart blanche? = art


Plus the real driving force is the business model...

You get famous artists to design the Olympic poster they then sell in the millions for say £10 a pop well you do the maths. = SUCCESS

Get an unknown set of designers to design the posters they sell but only to other designers = LESSER SUCCESS....

Simple really I would go for the artists every time.
Chris
2011-06-23 14:57:37

The olympics committee have already proved that they wouldn't recognise a good design if it bit them
Peter Grainger
2011-06-23 15:36:21

nobody has mentioned illustrators...
Jill Calder
2011-06-23 16:08:47

Looking forward to seeing Sarah Morris and Bridget Riley's work.
Pickle Design
2011-06-23 17:15:31

I do hope these people are not being paid a fortune? ( Except Bridget Riley of course ) Why could this not have been crowdsourced from the UK's world-renowned graphics community, thus providing really cheap, good design available to all? The resultant posters could then be sold 'a la' Olympics tickets on a first come, last served basis, thus disseminating 'probably copied' graphic design to the lower masses.

"Artists achieve fame, graphic designers just consider what they might do if the problem were to arise".
Gerald Peake
2011-06-23 20:13:32

The olympics committee have already proved that they wouldn't recognise a good design if it bit them
Peter Grainger
2011-06-23 23:35:02

Brainstorm for Emin's olympic poster:
Tent on running track with 'i shagged carl lewis' embroidered.

Brainstorm for Ofili's olympic poster:
As above but written in elephant sh*t

Any more ideas?
marc
2011-06-24 09:28:06

This Olympic crap really gets on my tits! What is wrong with this country? Does anyone remember the docu about the creation of The Dome? (O2 now) You'd have thought they'd learnt something.
John Amy
2011-06-24 10:15:13

I think designers (all of us) are well out of it! To be associated with the Olympics at the moment seems to be an opportunity to set oneself as a bizarre Aunt Sally which people feel obliged to throw things at. I hate the logo, I will probably like at least one of the posters but it doesn't affect my day to day work. I can't even use it as a good example of what a designer can do for you!
Joanna
2011-06-24 18:32:24

first was the logo.

then the mascotts.

now the posters.

and putting the ticket sale mayhem in the basket, I think it's now crystal clear to anybody how crap the Olympic management must be.
claire
2011-06-25 17:32:53

A lot of rediculous comments here. Artists are perfectly capable of creating interesting posters. I would imagine they would be visually more striking than ones that designers would come up with. Prettiness will always come second to concept and let's face it, there aren't 12 good conceptual designers in this country.
Required
2011-06-27 08:25:32

Give the brief to 12 advertising agencies on the otherhand and we might have something much more clever and engaging
Required
2011-06-27 09:22:01

Sorry to hijack this post, but has anyone seen BP's latest ad? It details BP's support of the British athletes.

Curiously, the narrator only mentions BP at the start. Throughout the ad you see more Adidas logos on Team GB's training gear. BP's logo features at the end only. And even more curiously, at the end, there is no mention of BP. The narrator simply says 'London 2012'.

It's as if BP are trying to piggy back on London 2012's sense of national optimism, instead of risking reminding the public of last year's terrible oil slick.

Or is it just me being cynical?
Jono
2011-07-11 12:48:01

The biggest problem with most of these well known establishment 'ARTISTS' is most of their work is self endulgent crap. No problem if it's being sold to whoever has the cash and same taste!
But this London 2012 poster is for the people and visitors around the world. Who no doubt with the final 'Scribble' will be told they don't understand ART so shut up!
London is famous for it's Design and Graphic Art, why not put the prodject out to anyone who has ideas?
I think the reason for the bad London 'LOGO' was again only one tender was approached by the likes of The Lord and Boris with too much advice from people with no knowledge of the subject.
Billy
2011-07-27 11:12:32

Here they are: http://bbc.in/t4n5t9 (the posters).

Disappointed Tracey Emin didn't create My Olympic Changing Room, took a picture of that and then made it into a poster. Instead she did some kind of crypto-advert for Twitter just so we remember to tweet about Olympics. Oh, and London too. And something about love.
M. Ciapala
2011-11-06 17:06:51

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