Remember when the 2010 Vancouver Olympic logo was first unveiled, and everyone complained about it? Everything seemed wrong, from the simplicity in the concept, right down to the cheesy smiley face. And, when the Olympic mascots were revealed, they were met with intense skepticism, I mean, how could we possibly face the world with giant, anime-style fuzzy creatures?

All of my branding reservations went out the door when I discovered that my 9-year old stepdaughter desperately wanted anything Quatchi or Miga. The 2010 Olympic branding has really grown on me, and I feel Vancouver has actually done a superb job with their graphics and pulling the brand all together. The end result has indeed been a success.

So, you can imagine my horror when I saw the unveiling of the 2012 London Summer Olympic logo. Now, I’m all for modern, I love a good colour palette, and I embrace change (or at least try), however, I have no idea how this brand is going to come together. It’s the first logo to use numerous colour variation, and not only that it’s...well...it’s UGLY. I do believe, if you squint really hard, you might even make out the fact that it’s supposed to be the numbers 2012. Yah, that’s right, look again.

I’ve heard some speculation that the logo is supposed to embrace London’s grunge scene. Not convinced on that one. I’ve also heard it wanted to encompass the internet generation, again, not convinced on that one either. I’ve also heard that this logo cost upwards of 400,000 pounds (roughly $650,000 Canadian) to create. That one I am convinced of.

Let’s all hope that the upcoming scheduled evolution of this logo will improve upon it, and that in 2012 my then 13-year old stepdaughter will still want a fuzzy Olympic mascot—although I’m not holding my breath on that one.