2012 london olympics mascots
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2012 london olympics mascots
today the mascots for the 2012 olympic games in london were unveiled. the one-eyed characters
'wenlock' and 'mandeville' were created from the last two drops of british steel used for the london 2012
olympic stadium: 'that’s why we’re so shiny, reflecting the people, places and things
we meet along the way as we travel around the UK'.
designed by iris, 'wenlock' and 'mandeville' are just as flexible as the rest of the 2012 identity,
with their appearance changing to incorporate different elements of the branding elements.
wenlock
'my name is inspired by much wenlock in shropshire, a town that is at the heart of olympic history.
in the 19th century, baron pierre de coubertin was invited there to watch the ‘much wenlock games’
inspired by the olympic games of ancient greece. de coubertin was inspired by the wenlock games too,
and went on to found the modern olympic movement. the much wenlock games are still held annually
to this day! 'the light on my head is inspired by the lights on london’s iconic black taxis. the shape of the
front of my head is based on the shape of the olympic stadium roof. my eye is a camera lens,
capturing everything I see as I go..'
mandeville
'my name is inspired by stoke mandeville in buckinghamshire, the birthplace of the paralympic games.
on the same day as the opening ceremony of the london 1948 olympic games, sir ludwig guttmann
held his own sport competition in stoke mandeville for world war II soldiers with spinal injuries.
the stoke mandeville games grew and grew until they became the paralympic games.'
image: AP
see the video which tells the story of these mascots in full, along with more images and info
over at the official london 2012 mascot webiste.
super cool!! they are not just way cool and tender but they have also so much comersial potencial :D
rose 05.19.10
Terrible... such all the London Olympic design.
gar 05.19.10
is it a joke ?
batman 05.19.10
this is crap man
James Llea 05.19.10
The whole London Olympics branding is like ...WTF?
How can a country with so many fantastic designers of any field come up with disaster after disaster. The blow job logo, Anish Kapur's Godzilla tower, and now these mascots that children will not get, They have one big eye and no facial expression. Jeeez...
How can a country with so many fantastic designers of any field come up with disaster after disaster. The blow job logo, Anish Kapur's Godzilla tower, and now these mascots that children will not get, They have one big eye and no facial expression. Jeeez...
bear 05.19.10
The branding for the 2012 has raised the profile of the games far more than any in recent memory - job well done I think. Say what you want but you can either push the envelope with this kind of approach or churn out another lion, bear, dog, tiger etc.
PeterC 05.20.10
Britain has some of the best designers and design groups in the world. The logo is an embarassment and these mascots are just peculiar. I don't see that either the logo or the mascots reflect London in any way - not that anyone cares about olympic mascots anyway. Also, Wenlock and Mandeville? Seriously bad naming.
I feel bad for whoever ends up having to dress up as one of these. The outfits are just terrible.
I feel bad for whoever ends up having to dress up as one of these. The outfits are just terrible.
Jerry 05.20.10
wow! that's scary. They reminds me of one-eye ghost. I like their body though. If they had two eyes they would look much better.
Mina 05.20.10
this must be the first ollympics that hasnt gone for a predicatble, streamlined branding...but actually tryed doing somehting that risks being unpopular with some poeple...beijing had scale, london has adventurism
dn 05.20.10
http://www.bringthemback.org/
hernani alves 05.20.10
reminds me of "the blind one-eyed monster".......I mean how phallic can you get????????
Charmain Giuliani 05.20.10
its been a long time since i saw such a shitty design........
tessayuck 05.20.10
Lighten people. It's just a mascot and the more I look at them, the more I like them.
http://worldmanabouttown.wordpress.com/
http://worldmanabouttown.wordpress.com/
World Man About Town 05.20.10
whoever thought these characters were a good or original idea is seriously miss-guided....oh dear!
ob1t 05.20.10
wow - I didn't think it could get worse than the logo design, but I was wrong...
bwright 05.20.10
Brittish people! Love the comments on this one :D
my 05.20.10
They frighten me. I will not sleep well.
david, the frightened one 05.20.10
lolllllll...pure terrrribleeeblyyy
c 05.20.10
Have any of you watched the animation? It's great! C'mon mascots are aimed at kids they are purely for merchandising and any kid who watches that video is a) going to want a toy of one of the robots and B) take an interest in the olympics.
job well done 05.20.10
lazy junk. Shame on you
Steve 05.20.10
I think the pictograms are quite nice and mascots are fine. They are not boring at least. I won't be able to say the same thing for the logo though.
Turk 05.21.10
wow? weird?
ge 05.22.10
@Steve: Exactly! Lazy is the word! Everything about the 2012 London Olympics branding has been lazy.
I am all for experimentation in design, but the logo and the branding in general has absolutely no design rigour! There is almost entirely no foundations beneath the branding approach, and these mascots are no exception.
I would like to applaud designers for experimenting, but only if they maintain a solid design process, after all this is what stands between a professional designer and someone just having fun.
I can't say much against the Olympic park design as I have been heavily involved therein, but I am seriously disappointed at the hyper-typical architect selection for the venues...oh well, should be a good games.
I am all for experimentation in design, but the logo and the branding in general has absolutely no design rigour! There is almost entirely no foundations beneath the branding approach, and these mascots are no exception.
I would like to applaud designers for experimenting, but only if they maintain a solid design process, after all this is what stands between a professional designer and someone just having fun.
I can't say much against the Olympic park design as I have been heavily involved therein, but I am seriously disappointed at the hyper-typical architect selection for the venues...oh well, should be a good games.
toby00001 05.22.10
If the Silver Surfer had a one night stand with a methadrone addicted Teletubby, the 2012 mascots would be the unfortunate result.
josh909 05.22.10
The female one looks angry and the male one looks scared or confused or both (Hugh Grant??)
Ian 05.22.10
Your right josh909, they don't look like they belong to this earth, let alone London in 2012.
I think they look like the love child of the Terminator's T1000 and the Simpson's "Kang and Kodos"..... ha!
I think they look like the love child of the Terminator's T1000 and the Simpson's "Kang and Kodos"..... ha!
Anders, Sydney 05.23.10
vou vomitar...
chryso 05.23.10
Guess you should save the puke bag from the plane for the Olympic Village...
Context 05.23.10
Perhaps, if the games take place somewhere in Andromeda Galaxy..
MR 05.24.10
"We come in peace"! hoho!
mid 05.24.10
they look like CCTV cameras. I guess that's the only link they have to British culture...
Hannah 05.25.10
terrible design. i understand their want and need to be different and creative but this is just bad.
CJ 06.05.10
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