Olympic Logos: The Best and the Worst, Including Lisa Simpson's Sex Act

By Steve Jansen Tue., Jul. 24 2012 at 7:00 AM

Do you see it? Do you???

Heh. Lisa Simpson is giving Bart Simpson a hummer in the London 2012 Olympic logo.

Uh, we mean aren't you stoked for the 17 days of glory that commences on July 27 in the United Kingdom, especially with a logo that cost £400,000 (approximately $621,000)?

That's right. All of that freaking money for a Wolff Olins-designed logo that's not really that awesome at all.

How does the ~~cartoon sex scene~~ proud representation of the world's foremost sporting event stack up against Olympic logos of the past? With input from Houston Press Art Director Monica Fuentes, we rank the rank logos as well as the good ones.

The Bad

8. Calgary 1988
The 1988 Winter Olympic Games, brought to you by Chrysler!

7. Sydney 2000
Head Down Under, kind of like Lisa Simpson, and be struck by lightning.

6. Lillehammer 1994
An Olympic logo or an Alpine Piano Festival took place in Norway?

5. Los Angeles 1984
What!? Only three stars!?

Tags:

Lisa Simpson, London Olympics 2012

We Recommend

askopp

You can vote for your favorite here: http://www.askdesigns.com/vote-for-your-favorite-summer-olympics-logo/

Ferkner

As a follow up, the Vancouver 2010 logo was not representative of the local Indian group whose land the games were held on. It's called an inunguat and is representative of the Inuit (eskimos) in the Arctic.

fashionthailand01

I think USA will get most gold medals again. http://sbo-th.com

miss_msry topcommenter

Once you see that, it's all you can see.

MarcoFromHouston

the expos became the nationals, not senators

H_e_x

1 Like

The nauseating web 2.0 bullshit jargon the designers use to defend the London logo is the same kind of crap I've come to expect from all failed design projects. It's not their fault that everyone hates the logo, it's the ignorant public's fault for not recognizing their genius and utilizing the design to its fullest extent. That kind of crap might work in douchebag branding circles (is there any other kind?), but it will never work for everyone else who doesn't have their head shoved up web 2.0's ass.

Ferkner

Your lack of comprehension is astounding.

The Calgary '88 logo, while pentagon shaped, is supposed to resemble the maple leaf, made up of cowboy boots, since Calgary is famous for the annual Calgary Stampede.

For Los Angeles 1984, how many stars do you want in the logo? How many colours are in the US flag? If you can figure that out, you can figure out why the logo has three stars.

For Rome 1960, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Wolf

For Montreal 1976, the Olympic logo is done in the same style as the logo for the City of Montreal. See here: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=5977,42249638&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Ignorance isn't bliss. Do some research.

Hanabi-chan topcommenter

Regarding the Rome logo: That would be representing the legend of the city's founding. Still, as an Olympic Logo, it is through and through a WTF type of design. The London 2012 logo is just flat out ugly.