1. The official logo
Okay, I like the Beijing font, but I've hated this logo since the first day I saw it. Okay, it is supposed to look like a Chinese chop, a person running, and the "Jing" character. Nothing about it is uniquely Beijing nor does it seem special, its just underwhelming. However, having seen the London logo, I'm starting to appreciate it.
2. Candidate City logo
Beforre 7/13/01, this was the logo that could be seen everywhere around the city. It's unique and exciting, there is movement to it and its colorful. It fails to scream Beijing, but has Chinese elements and is more dynamic than the current primary logo.
3. Olympic Mascots
Another example of how this is China's Games (in more ways than one) and not just Beijing's. The Fuwa are made up of mythical and real animals that are found throughout China, though none is really native to Beijing. Also, unlike most other Olympics with only 1 or at most 2 mascots, Beijing's going all out with 5, one for each ring, and their name spells out "Beijing Huanying Ni" (Beijing Welcomes You). Can anyone convince me the decision to have 5 mascots wasn't totally about money?
4. Paralympics logo
This one is bad, really bad. It's supposed to represent "sky, earth, and human beings" and be an "athlete in motion" that incorporates Chinese caligraphy and characters. Sorry, I'm not seeing that. This makes "Running Jing" look good...
5. Fu Niu Le Le Paralympic Mascot
As much as I hate the Fuwa, I love Funiu. It uses some good colors and while it doesn't shout China, it does shout cute, which is exactly what a mascot is supposed to do.
6. Other logos
Above are the logos for the torch relay, volunteers, environment, culture, and ticketing. For the first few, the logos are all variations on a theme and use the same style person and similar Caligraphy-like strokes that are reshaped in different ways. It incorporates Chinese caligraphy, but is unique to Beijing, the only minor problem is that its lacking some "Olympic" element, but then again, it is hard to incorporate everythin. The rings instead of "ticketing" might have made this a much better choice instead of "Running Jing".
2 comments:
a common misconception regarding the official logo is that it is meant to represent a running man/woman. It isn't. It is meant be a dancing figure "Chinese Seal, Dancing Beijing" is the official slogan (I kid you not). But I agree, the Tiantan one is much better. Problem is it was not designed by a company whose CEO is a nephew of the Beijing mayor or some other nonsense
Thanks for the comment, its true officially its called "Dancing Beijing", but it looks nothing like somebody dancing and a lo tmore like someone running...
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