A Design is for Life, Not Just the Olympics

The London Olympics committee launch the 2012 Olympic mascot tonight on the One Show and everyone with an interest in design is hoping that it’s not a dog’s breakfast, like the logo, which looks, most unfortunately, like an abstracted version of a Simpsons porn cartoon as drawn by a committee, all of whom were wearing blindfolds.

That they are launching the mascot on the One Show is a good sign – they realise that they need to get momentum underway to keep the Olympic brand in the public eye in as positive a way as possible. It’s absolutely wonderful PR, getting this slot on Primetime TV, which will see it talked about through the night after a couple of days build up and should take away some of the sting of the post-logo criticism.

There’s no doubt that they will be using the mascot to keep the cash flow to the Olympics steady – people will doubtless be buying it as a collectors item – but my hope is that they will be honouring the best British designers in a way that the logo just didn’t.

Do they believe that Britain has an appetite for great design? I hope so, because if they fail in this, it’ll be an indication that political correctness and quango culture will have forced the Olympics away from a celebration of all that’s great about Britain – the Olympics celebrations should never just be about the sport. Will the committees have the bravery and initiative to make this a great Olympic mascot? Here’s hoping.

As long as the mascot is not an actual White Elephant – that would stretch Britain’s capacity for irony just a little too far.