If designing the worst logo for a public event ever, while wasting tons of money, was an Olympic event, this one would score gold for sure. I know this is sort of older news but I still can’t believe this is actually the official Olympic logo for 2012. Now the last thing I want to do is come off as a pretentious designer who scoffs at everyone else’s work. However, sometimes you just have to be honest and look at work for what it is. In this case, crap!

The 2012 Olympic logo has been designed for a while now and has been met with harsh (but deserving) criticism. This new logo is a representation of the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero. One of the key goals in the logo was trying to appeal to “young people.” It seems to me they went past just young people all the way to appealing to kindergartners; which I’m sure was their target demographic because I know all little kids would rather watch the Olympics instead of Sponge Bob.

“Early public reaction to the logo, as measured by a poll on the BBC website, was largely negative: more than 80% of votes gave the logo the lowest possible rating. Several newspapers have run their own logo competitions, displaying alternative submissions from their readers…It was suggested that the logo resembles the cartoon character Lisa Simpson performing fellatio and others have complained that it looks like a distorted Swastika.”

A segment of animated footage released at the same time as the logo was reported to trigger seizures in a small number of people with photosensitive epilepsy. The charity Epilepsy Action received telephone calls from people who had had seizures after watching the sequence on TV. In response, a short segment was removed from the London 2012 website. Ken Livingstone, then London Mayor, said that the company who designed the film should not be paid for what he called a “catastrophic mistake.” – Wikipedia

What a Train Wreck the whole thing is. Possibly the saddest thing (aside from the seizure inducing commercials) is the cost of this project. Apparently it cost £400,000. That is roughly 592,000 U.S. dollars….. I think they should demand a refund!

Just for reference and comparison, I went and found many of the official logos of the past 60 years or so. Included is the London Olympics of 1948… dated but much better.

For someone who has lived in several small studio apartments I know how difficult it can be to fit everything into a small space. One of the biggest problem areas is the kitchen. A person has quite a few large appliances from the refrigerator to the stove to the dishwasher to the kitchen sink, all taking up valuable space in an already cramped situation. Most of us cant, or wouldn’t want to, do without any of these so the answer is in the efficiency of space and utilizing that space correctly. Turkish Designer Fevzi Karman’s concept is brilliant and packs as much functionality into one small station as I think is engineeringly possible. The beauty of this island is that when you need it, it expands, but tucks away when you don’t. The island contains/doubles as a table, sink, counter, stove, recycling bin, dishwasher, dish storage, a wine rack and I believe a microwave in the middle.

Karman does such a good job with this both aesthetically and in practical or “real world” way and I think this is one of my favorite concepts for “future” living I think I have seen in a while. I feel like a lot of times industrial designs can be like fashion shows, in that the clothes are seen as great, but no one you see is ever wearing those weird outfits and you think who would wear that? This is certainly not the case here and I wish apartment kitchens came standard with these instead of my small/storage-less kitchen setup now.

CREDITS
Fevzi Karaman

I came across this technology centered chaise lounge called the Wave Chaise. It is designed for “today’s teenager” but whether you read, or like to watch movies, or play video games, I can’t think of too many people under 40 who wouldn’t be interested in one of these. I love the sleek, futuristic, and artsy look but appreciate that they have so many functional aspects to them also. The functional storage for the cds and dvds is done in a way that showcases them but at the same time adds to the playfulness without detracting or looking cluttered. The desk area on the outside is also a nice functional use of space. I especially like that it appears as though the desk is coming through the front to the inside providing more storage.  I feel like even without the functionality of it all, the piece would make a great seat in any house and would definitely be a conversation starter.

The Wave Chaise was designed by Roberta Rammê from Brazil and in her own words she describes her work:
“Imagine a furniture to wear… then dress it with an innovator design, intense colors, ergonomics and technology appeal. Like in fashion, the point is to unify beauty, comfort, and functionality. Whether your desire is to watch TV or DVD, listen to your favorite CD, read, talk on the phone, or even study, take a nap or browse the internet, you got it close, in a multifunctional chaise-longue. This concept is inspired by the values and personality of a today’s teenager and the standards generated by a global hi-tech culture of facilities, where the access to technology is cheap and easy.”

CREDITS
Design by :Roberta Rammê
Name of design :Wave Chaise

Fed Ex has awesome ads out that convey the ease and quickness of their shipping. Clever idea and great photography make this campaign one of those I wish I had thought of. The Photography is done by a Brazilian photographer named Manolo Moran who has been a part of dozens of other amazing ad campaigns, some of which I have loved but didn’t even realize he had done them. You can check out his other works at his website manolomoran.com.

CREDITS
Agency: DDB, Brazil
Creative Directors: Rodrigo Almeida, Renata Florio, Sergio Valente
Art Director: Max Geraldo
Copywriter: Aricio Fortes
Photographer: Manolo Moran

Here is a clever campaign about the high quality prints by HP printers. The commercial titled Pony was done by CLM BBDO advertising agency for HP PRINTERS (HP company) in France. It was released a little over a year ago in April 2009 but I thought it was a nice concept and execution so I thought I would share.

CREDITS

Advertising Agency: CLM BBDO, France
Creative Directors: Gilles Fichteberg, Jean-François Sacco, Eric Pierre
Art Director: Cedric Mountaud
Copywriter: Vincent Pedrocchi
Photographer: Jean-Yves Lemoigne
Productions: Continental
Achat d’Art: Sylvie Etchemaïté
Post production: Adrien Bénard

Pretty much all I can say to these is wow. My friend Jayme was telling me about these posters and so I had to go check them out. I have seen many a thing made with type but this is a first. It is not a new concept to design images with type but these are definitely executed in a different, provocative way. These were created by a designer named Andrej Krahne. On his website he breaks down the project briefly and I thought it was an interesting to share the brief “behind the scenes ” look at the project.

TASK: Communicate the joy with Durex.
IDEA: Don’t tell it demonstrate it.
SOLUTION: Type shows like X-ray the inner feelings during the act with Durex.”

CREDIT
Andrej Krahne

I was looking around online tonight and came across this awesome and equally gross business system for Germany’s most famous crime and horror channel. It’s not often that you would get the opportunity to let loose to this extent and be so creative for a client. However, I feel like this is a perfect example of exactly the type of thing you can achieve when given the allowance by an open minded client. My favorite is the hole punched inflicted wounds…that’s genius. It is clear that a lot of time and precision measures were taken to ensure that all the parts of the system, especially the hole punches worked flawlessly.

CREDITS
Client: NBC UNIVERSAL Global Networks Deutschland GmbH
Agency: Jung von Matt AG, Germany
Creative Directors: Jacques Pense, Michael Ohanian
Art Directors: Matthias Kracker, Stefan Rösinger
Copywriters: Lennart Frank
Graphic Artist: Karla Kurz
Account Manager: Kerstin Stutzmann, Ruben Ockenfels
Post Production: Recom
Production: Frank Schweizer
Published: 2008