Original news in Japanese : Sponichi Annex News
The proud moment of Tokyo, the Olympics in 2020 has been in news for all wrong reasons recently. From the exorbitant cost of the stadium leading to curtailing of the plans to the emblem which was announced exactly five years to the minute before the Olympic opening ceremonies kick off in Tokyo have seen various controversies.
Created by Japanese graphic artist Kenjiro Sano, the logo at first look, in my own personal view, did not feel have that “WOW” factor to begin with. Totally abstract, placement of shapes trying to convey the letters T, O and L for Tokyo Olympics or whatever is devoid of detail and embellishment. It uses such dull colors that it was certainly not “eye-catching”. To add to that Belgian designer Olivier Debie claimed the original design and accused that this logo was a copied work he had done for a theater company!!!
Internet forums debated whether it was indeed copied or was a rare coincidence and then came the news that the designer was accused of plagiarism in other instances (like in Suntory’s bag designs which Sano actually apologized for!). The stage was set for withdrawal of the emblem.
Tokyo Olympic committee today announced that it will stop using the scandal-hit logo and will decide in the coming days of what to replace it with. Have a look below at the past Olympics emblems and they look so lively and colorful. Tokyo certainly deserves something more authentic and eye-catching at the same time conveys the spirit of sport and the Japanese cultural essence.
Alternate designs came up on the net and a Spain based Japanese designer caught attention with the below one. Beautiful and conveys the essence. Totally! Lets see what the Olympic Committee decides to come up with in a few days time.
tiago
Manish
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