Prescott's Design Blog

Everyone’s talking about the logo for the London 2012 Olympics. So, let’s step away from that for a moment, and examine another international sporting event — the G8 Summit.

This year, the Summit is being held in Germany. It rotates every year, but this time around I have to give props to the Germans for producing a very stylish and elegant logo. The website is also very well done, and while the photos may be a bit saccharine, it seems they’ve created a smart little identity. Also, a fitting redemption from their silly and borderline-bizarre identity for the World Cup 2006:

Because the G8 lasts only a few days, and it’s not open to the public, the logo itself has limited stage time. Clearly, global economics and governance is not a spectator sport. Still, I think this is turning into a bit of a competition between the nations, and the Germans have set the bar at a new high for next year’s host to try and hurdle.

The Germans have come a long way since they last hosted the games Summit back in 1999, when this was their logo:

Since then, here are the logos for each Summit.

2000, Japan

2001, Italy

2002, Canada

2003, France

2004, US (Georgia)

2005, UK (Scotland)

2006, Russia

And a little something that turned up from a Google search. Thank goodness this wasn’t the real logo:

So generally I’d say we’re getting better. Design is finally a starter in the world of international competitions and summits, and the rise of the web means that it’s going to be seen by more people, and from an earlier start. It will be interested to see what the Japanese can dig up for next year’s Summit. Here’s a quick logo I did for something simple-yet-striking. Needs work, I know.

And just to throw it in for fun, here are some Olympic logos I dug up. Just so happens they are both in Canada.

Vancouver, 2010

Montreal, 1976

Montreal definitely has a retro feel to it, no?

UPDATE: Some apparently beat me to the punch, posting (a day earlier) a lengthy article about the origin of the new logo including a €216,000 price tag. Unfortunately, the article is in German, so your best bet is to find someone who speaks German, or to muddle through Google Translation.