Wandering a friend’s blog I discovered this great site in London. ‘Together for London’ is a website in the UK whose message is ‘A little thought from each of us. A big difference for everyone’.

The site is an interesting attempt to make London a better place. Having lived there for three years I love the idea of the intention of this site. That being said looking through the site there are a lot of people complaining about things that frustrate them and other people agreeing with them. Communicating frustration can be a very healthy activity if it is within the context of moving beyond rather than gathering evidence that you are right and those ‘damn people with backpacks are really evil human beings’.

The site (in my opinion) does have positive aspects, firstly I believe the start to any change is communication. Secondly, by reading someone’s post on the site it may trigger you to change an opinion or try something new. For example one of the campaigns is to smile at someone on the Tube (underground train). One person’s response which I love is: Your campaign has inspired me to smile more on the tube (doesn’t need to be grinning at everyone like a nutter just a little occasional one) stick at it and it might catch on!

Small simple ideas can ripple out and end up making a large impact on the world. For this reason I wish the site luck.

Just found out about this as a friend photographed the foundations being dug. It will be when complete the tallest building in Europe and the UK. From what I remember of London it will be a good addition to a somewhat rundown area. Check out the official site.

I guess this isn’t anything new since we’ve seen choreographed dancing en mass (in a Philippines jail), performance in subway stations (Joshua Bell), and flash mob performance in many other forms the advertising side of this is available at Brand Republic.)

I won’t ruin the performance (follow the link!) but Saatchi & Saatch did a nice job of coordinating and capturing this event and then turning it into a polished ad for TMobile 36 hours later. Must have been quite a shock for morning commuters!

June 4th marked the launch of the new London 2012 Olympic logo and it didn’t take long for the controversy to begin. I’d already fielded a number calls and emails before lunch from friends, designers and even the media. My inbox is filled with emails about the subject from various GDC designers across the country—some even wondering if the whole thing isn’t a hoax. Most hate the logo, claiming it’s too silly, trendy and irrelevant. Others argue that it’s edgy and fresh – sort of a new friendly punk-graffiti take on London’s identity—and will appeal to a more youthful audience. I say we’ll need some time to see how this unusual logo is actually used before history judges it fairly. I’ll certainly be watching with a keen designer’s eye.

I’ll admit that like many of my colleagues, my first impression of the London 2012 logo wasn’t particularly positive. I think I understand what the designers were going for, but the combination of ultra simplified forms, typography and psychedelic colour choices seem less like a “design for the Internet generation” and more of a graphic heavily influenced by recent graphic design trends such as eighties fashion. And if the logo is supposed to represent a stylized character as some have suggested, it’s a bit too obscure for most.

Hating this logo seems a very popular bandwagon to jump onto—some even claiming it could cause epileptic seizures, but I tried to reserve judgment until after doing some reading and watching the videos on their website and after some consideration of how this brand could be applied I started to see some potential in it. Sure, the graphic looks like an eighties videogame icon, but as some have observed, it’s certainly not boring, is very flexible as a solution and contains some interesting dynamism, portraying a brave visual expression of the unique attitude of a vibrant new London. It’s a bold departure from what one would expect of an Olympic logo: a reflection of that city’s cultural heritage or most well-known landmarks combined with the primary colour pallet of the official Olympic logo. But is it an appropriate logo for a city such as London and an event as serious as the Olympics?

I’m uncertain what the contents of the Creative Brief included in terms of strategy, audience and messaging, but I have heard that the design firm of Wolff Olins were hired after a careful selection process—not an open speculative contest—and paid handsomely for their expertise, so one has to assume they were given clear direction from the planning committee. I’m sure many would considered this logo a success if the primary goal was to create an abstract expression of the diversity and individuality of Londoners, unlike some Olympic logos that focus too narrowly on visual language representing a fraction of a city’s population. Is it actually better than the controversial Vancouver 2010 logo? I think so actually. It’s certainly not worse. And it may just grow on all the nay-sayers over time.

In our business you’ll never produce a graphic design solution that everyone will universally approve of, but is the London 2012 logo “good design”? Well, that has yet to be seen perhaps. As with anything executed to be immediately fashionable, it’s questionable whether it will stand the test of time or become a classic. It most certainly won’t be universally hailed as brilliant, but I doubt it will be judged as bollocks in due time. Congratulations Wollf Olins for being so brave.

For more information on the new Lodon 2010 brand, check out their main website, though for a more unbiased look at the reaction to the launch, check out BBC coverage and the reaction on the BBC Sport blog.