AnotherPaul

Bob, that's wonderful in a way I never thought possible. Still laughing :))

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think what swung it for me was watching a news > report on it last night - where the principal > critic was some Old Fart Tory, sitting in a > panelled library, waistcoated up and reclining > foppishly in a high-backed chair. > > At that moment I thought "i like it" Oi, that was me. Less of the Tory. :))

Ok then, here's my logo. London 2012 It is a model of understatement. Bold so as to express strength, red as that's London's colour.

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I do believe that if you surveyed 1000 average > Britons by presenting them with something new, > unexpected and different, 900 of them would > immediately take offence as a matter of course. Spot on Bob. I love it that not only is almost impossible to make anything in Britain without being Daily Mailed to the floor, amongst the other 100 many will argue from a contrary position so as to prove they have taste. A kind of 'i know it's crap but I want to prove I know more than those 900 saps.' argument. Endless fun.

Blimey, thanks James. Attitude vs Bland, you're polarising my argument. You are right that design has to refer to something, but for me the olympics shouldn't be new wave. It's possible to borrow visual traits from all over and make them into something new. This doesn't manage that. It's a pastiche of a pre-existing graphic style. To wish for an olympics logo which is very good does not equate with thinking that Barratt homes and DFS are a good idea. It makes for a neat argument but not a particularly water-tight one. The word London isn't legible when the logo is small. Putting words within shapes forces the words to be displayed small. Experimental and potentially dynamic yes, functional, no. As for reinterpreting design styles already present in culture as being 'what designers do', really. Sometimes that's what one should do according to the project. What niggles me about this is that rather than being inspired and finding a new solution within the context of the project, someone (or a committee of someones) seem to have gone for lazily borrowing a graphic style. My interactivity dig was against the way it was promoted yesterday, as if it's a solution in itself. No-one would be daft enough to stand up and say 'we printed it on paper!' everyone knows things get printed on paper but I'd wager that for some of the committee deciding on this, the web and mobile phones are a bit of a mystery. Hence 'look, it's interactive!'. And? And the wonky edges are kinetic, dynamic etc, They're also trendy wonky edges. I'm off to make some bland unlikable designs. Ap

RosieH, they have modern toss cards in Review. :)

Please Alan, take Sainsbury's. I'm more interested in Dulwich woods, thinking that our western flank, including the village, is probably the weakest. A bunch of loafer wearing jumper round neck types won't put up much opposition. We'll knock them out, pile into commandeered 4x4s and drive over dog kennel hill Taliban style. AP (stows military mentality under desk and gets back to work)

Bike locks and somewhere for all those trolleys to go, it often looks like a dump. It is really deserving of some improvement, anyone know of council funding available? I'll look into it too.

The building at the corner of Dunstans and Forest Hill looks like an ex-pub but would make a perfect cafe/bakery. Problem is it's in use as a warehouse and it's exterior upstairs is in a very poor state. Would require lots of money to sort out without much of a guarantee that it would thrive - I'd go but there's only so much coffee I can take. Less expensive would be some trees and a sort out of the street furniture.

James, you're right it would require a bit of brainpower, more like months of work, to come up with a better idea but that is the lot of designers and they (me included) have to lump it. A piece of work this public is bound to be a magnet for criticism, in this case, what I've heard here has been pretty constructive. But for the sake of not seeming to be wagon jumping the essence of my critique is this; ? it is post-modern, not modern as Seb Coe promoted it, it's already old, more 1983 that 2012 ? the word 'London' is all lower-case, tiny and in a semi-illegible typeface - why? ? the jaunty, misaligned coloured edges are pop new wave, fine for the klaxons maybe not for this gig ? 'interactivity' sounds good in press conferences but is no replacement for good design ? where is the sport? In short it is a design style applied to a project rather than a design style born of the project. AP ;-)

lorkes i don't want that old one either, that was virtually the old tory logo. I find it interestin that when we want to win the olympics we come across all red white and blue, classical type and billowing flags. once we've got the games we go all fluro bonkers. very strange, a form of national schizophrenia? That's an incredibly snotty comment from said designer. "?the british public (who have no taste)?". Boo!

if the Lisa Simpson sex thing was intentional I take my hat off to the designer.

hi Rosie, please, this can't be compared with the tube map. That was original, perfectly fulfilled it's function and upset some folk because it was thought too abstract. We know that's guff now but that doesn't mean this olympic brand will follow the same journey from ridicule to adoration. Apols if i mislead, 'Pleasant' was the wrong word to use, I generally loath 'pleasant'. Ahem, being something of a smart-arse in this field, 'interactive' is often used to obscure a dearth of ideas. If a design is not good enough making it all bendy and remixable is just polishing the proverbial turd AP

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's a bit, er, 'eighties'. Which might be > kinda-cool now (so they say) but will no doubt be > hopelessly out of date when we actually get to > 2012. > > Here's an interesting site (if you like that sort > of thing) with all the previous Olympic logos. > Design-wise, I'm a Helsinki 1952 man myself. > The designers of the Munich '72 logo clearly lost > the plot. > > http://www.mapsofworld.com/olympic-trivia/olympic- > emblem.html I love tokyo '64 and am quiet scared by the rome, is that a dog? I'd put money on the Munich designers having had a hand in the new London logo.

That's right cutting edge that ain't it. It works on phones n that, looks like the inside of a ravers brain and it comes in several versions so we can all feel included/epileptic.

did you read that on a pr blurb?, please say you did.

erm. we have a brand for our olympics. great if you're into nu-rave, not so if you like designs which are in anyway pleasant. http://www.london2012.com/about-newlook-video.html i'm laughing but in a 'that's a bloody waste of opportunity and money' kind of way. and Mr Blair says "When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life" Is he looking at the same designs as me? AP

If we are to take on an expansionist attitude towards neighbouring areas may I suggest that our push into Peckham ends at Choumert Road, allowing us free access to Review and Ptitou without having to deal with the terrible stink that it Pekam Rye Station.;-)

I used to like 'Greetings' purely because the type on their old shop sign was so bad it read 'sreetings'. It is a lovely shop and the staff a very friendly. Dom, I think the point isn't that free markets are bad, just that another card shop is uncalled for. Or maybe we're going the way of China and in the future ED will be known as the gift card buying capital of the UK. Yuk etc?

Review is a gem, the only local seller of design mags and creative books, lots of good fiction too. Glad it's still going, had thought Amazon had done for such places. (tu)

Myself and OneJulia spent all of one pints worth of time there on Saturday, would have stayed longer but found the experience bland. The back garden is a car park with huge piece of decking on top, weird selection of seating and not enough to go round. KIbnd of empty feeling even though busy. Inside I loved the original dark wood paneling but why then have dark wood and leather furniture?. All too heavy. Croatia vs Estonia on the TV helped none. And finally, a pet hate, why call it 'FHT' when it's real name is the Forest Hill Tavern? Just coz everyone else does? Spotted several other punters lasting just one pint. Jumped on a bus down to the marvelous Gowlett and had a great time. AP

Good to hear about the Italian, make me happy that will. The trees folks always seemed a little non-committal for running a bar cafe. they were both closed at the strangest of times, as well as for three week summer breaks and then there's the sickly paint-jobs. It's a peculiar strip of shops, quite desolate. The co-op was robbed two nights back. I'd be surprised if the robbers didn't have to queue for 10 minutes before making off with the loot ;-)

and trinity nailed it anyway, the thesp in question is Stephen Hartley. Avoiding Doctors is why I work. AP

It was this bloke, in 'enders was he?

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > They don't talk like pirates in Letchworth! > Everyone in Cleethorpes talks like pirates ;-) > > (actually that was an attempt at a east anglian > 'ooh aar', which used to be quite prevalent in > Letchworth, before all these claphamites moved in > etc...) But being claphamites etc? folks in Letchworth must be talking about pilates. A great idea citizen!