Disappointment, anger over Olympic logo 'embarrassment'

[bananas]

Source: Kyodo

Many people reacted with disappointment and anger after the logo for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was scrapped amid accusations of plagiarism.

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The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games decided Tuesday to scrap the logo, designed by Kenjiro Sano, just over a month after it was unveiled.

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The incident is a second blow for Japan over the 2020 Olympics, as the government and organizers last month were forced to ditch the initial plan for the main stadium due to snowballing cost estimates.

<snip>

Sports journalist Gentaro Taniguchi said, “The double collapses of the Olympics’ two symbols — the stadium and the logo — have significantly damaged the Tokyo Olympics and Japan has lost the confidence of international society.”

<snip>

Read more: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/01/national/disappointment-anger-olympic-logo-embarrassment/

[tblue37]

1. Image of both the Tokyo logo and the original it seems to have been based on:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jul/30/tokyo-olympics-logo-plagiarism-row

Oh, and there is another even more similar earlier image:
https://twitter.com/WillDesignFor/status/626088409946292224

[Ron Obvious]

6. "It was compared to a broken swastika, or Lisa Simpson performing oral sex on her brother Bart..."

(from the Guardian article)

I didn't think I was deficient in the filthy mind department, but I'm not seeing it...

[Journeyman]

8. The reference there was to the London 2012 Olympic logo . . .

You can probably see both references here.

[RobinA]

11. I Don't Know

much about broken swastikas, stylized "T"s or Lisa Simpson, but that red circle is a rising sun. Beating heart, my fanny.

[Monk06]

13. Sano obviously copied the Debie design and just plunked a red sun, the symbol of Japan, into it.

His reasoning is weak and duplicitous.

“The black colour of the central column represents diversity, the combination of all colours,” said the organisers. “The shape of the circle represents an inclusive world, in which everyone accepts each other. The red of the circle represents the power of every beating heart.”

The rising sun is all of a sudden the power of every beating heart? Come on.

[tblue37]

14. WHITE is the all-color, not black! nt

[1monster]

2. The Olympics don't seem to breed anything but controversy anymore...

Time to clean out the International Olympic Committee like they did that soccer thing?

The athletes deserve better.

But I must admit, I don't give a good

[rocktivity]

3. Oops

But even plagiarism beats the heck out dismembering a Hello Kitty -- let's spin that oldie and baddie from the 2012 London Olympics:




rocktivity

[TheSarcastinator]

4. well, considering that the Olympic rings AND torch are inventions of Nazi propaganda

I'm not sure this is too outside the historical norm for the idiocy that tends to surround the games.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/14/spt_oly1symb.html

"ATHENS, Greece - The most beloved emblems of the modern Olympics have a decidedly dark past.

The torch relay that culminates in the ceremonial lighting of the flame at Olympic stadium was ordered by Adolf Hitler, who tried to turn the 1936 Berlin Games into a celebration of the Third Reich. (...) And it was Hitler's Nazi propaganda machine that popularized the five interlocking rings as the symbol of the Games. Today, both are universally recognized icons of the Olympics. But historians say neither had much, if anything, to do with the Games born centuries ago in Ancient Olympia."

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

5. Yes and no

The Olympic rings were designed by Baron de Coubertin in 1912 or 13. However, the first time the Olympic torchbearer lit the flame in the stadium was for the 1936 games in Berlin.

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. Why don't they pay a royalty to the original designer

and be done with it.

[whatthehey]

9. I suspect graphics folks try to search but how?

A guy in Japan thinking "I'm going to take a Roman T with some shifted serifs and a ball" is supposed to be able to try and find any associated logos out of the god knows how many that might describe? We can assume he was probably not familiar with the Belgian theatrical world. Hell I lived just outside the Belgian border for a couple of years, I've been to Liege (no idea how to put an accent grave on it; what happened to the Alt+ shortcuts??) and I had no clue what their theater's logo was so what chance does he have?

[tblue37]

15. Here. Just copy-paste this into your post edit:

Liège

[olddots]

10. can't they just go with the BMW logo?

[0rganism]

12. Japan, of all places, should not be having this problem

their pop culture (at least the parts of it i've seen) simply overflows with images that could be used as inspiration for mascots and logos.
how did this all go so horribly wrong?

[tblue37]

16. They should make Maru the mascot. His name means "Round" in Japanese.

?w=580&h=435

Maru demonstrates a new Olympic sport:

<iframe width="580" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Or rhythmic gymnastics with cardboard box sleeve:

<iframe width="580" height="357" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>