The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are approaching fast. As part of the ongoing celebrations, Beijing has been subjected to many fascinating and engaging developments that truly define the Chinese culture. From magnificent Olympic venues to exciting cultural festivals, Olympic Games have never looked so good. Although it is difficult to predict the overall success rate of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there is however an important element of the Games that has been successfully demonstrated: the 2008 Beijing Olympic Logo or the Olympic Emblem.

At first glance, I liked the Beijing Olympic logo and wondered if others shared my opinion too. So, I inquired from some of my colleagues about their initial reaction towards this inspirational mark. Interestingly, I received some exciting comments from people regarding the 2008 Beijing Olympic logo, ranging from color choice to the whole outlook of the logo. I liked the idea and the comments so much that I decided to share some of those thought-provoking remarks with the readers. But first, a little introduction to the 2008 Beijing Olympic logo.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic logo, named the “Dancing Beijing”, is an artistic representation of Beijing’s hospitality, hopes and commitment to the Olympic Games and the world. It signifies the message of love, luck, beauty, commitment, and spirit and invites the world to be a part of the world’s most celebrated event: the Olympics.

A deep and philosophical nature is intelligently depicted in the 2008 Beijing Olympic logo with traditional Chinese cultural values and ideologies that echo the voices of modernity and development, while maintaining the proud history of China. The seal, the calligraphy and the stone cut design, all point to the famous Chinese heritage. It is creative, expressive and most importantly relevant. Even the typeface and the colors are pretty striking, and successfully capture the essence of Chinese culture in the logo.

But what do people think about the design of the Beijing Olympic logo?

Well, I asked this question from Pete, a graphic designer, and this is what he said:

“Nice logo, probably the best so far. At first, I thought it was a depiction of a simply drawn running man, but after careful observation, the image in the Beijing Olympic logo is a vague calligraphy of a Chinese word (Jing). Plus, the red color of the logo signifies the traditional Chinese values and the stone shape gives the logo an ancient feel to it. I think Chinese are eagerly enthusiastic about the Olympics. It is also a good design, looking at it from a designer’s perspective. It is creative and distinctive, the typeface is attractive, and the image is relevant too. Good job done.”

I then approached Patricia, our receptionist, to see what the Beijing Olympic logo is in the eyes of a ‘not-so-creative’ person. Patricia commented:

“I guess the Chinese have created a brilliant logo because it represents the country’s culture and is artistic due to the hidden calligraphy. The color red in China is considered as a symbol of luck and prosperity in China and may be that’s why it is often seen as the color of envelopes, doors, candles, decorative items and even bridal dresses. It also represents the joyous mood of the people, so it’s a perfect match with the Olympics and the celebrations. I like it.”

Finally, I asked Steve, a friend and an event planner to share his views on the Beijing Olympic logo: According to Steve:

“I saw this logo for the first time on the internet, and let me just say that it is a work of a genius. The whole logo has a sense of complexity to it and at the same time it is very simple. The complex character of the logo arises from the idea and story behind its image, while its simplicity results from the fact that even a child can draw it. Two-thumbs up!”

The Beijing Olympic Committee did a commendable job by displaying their famous Chinese culture and traditional values in their 2008 Beijing Olympic logo. Furthermore, the Beijing Olympic logo consists of various aspects of Chinese culture, tradition, innovation, celebration and Olympic spirit. No doubt, it has been a huge hit.

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The 2016 Summer Olympic Games are speculated to be the most exciting and culturally rich, major future sports event in the world. The organizers have promised the worldwide spectators a brilliant show, while offering the host city attractive financial incentives and a chance to promote the country’s cultural and social values.

So far, the decision of the host city is yet to be announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on October 2, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, few cities have managed to emerge as strong contenders to host the 2016 Olympics and the Paralympics on their home ground. This has led to a demanding bidding process, administered by the IOC, in which the Committee observes the candidate cities’ gaming facilities, availability of stadiums, infrastructure and other features which can prove a smooth arrangement of the Olympic Games in that city.

Earlier this year, Japan expressed its intentions of hosting the 2016 Olympics in Tokyo. Since then, there has been a wide enthusiasm among the city’s inhabitants who are well accustomed to play host to such international events, making Tokyo a strong contender in the race to Olympic glory. As part of their Olympic pursuits, Tokyo unveiled a ‘highly symbolic’ logo that reflects the Japanese cultural values and the city’s growing interest for Olympics. The Tokyo Olympic Logo was finalized from 18 entries in a nation-wide competition of talented upcoming and professional designers.

The Tokyo Olympic logo is a sign of blessings, luck and celebrations. It features a traditional Japanese knot called “MUSUBI” with five official colors of Olympics, turned into a colorful and attractive pattern of knotted strings used in Japan to decorate gifts. In a press release by the Tokyo 2016 Olympic Games Bid Committee, Chairman and CEO Dr. Ichiro Kono said:

“This logo (Tokyo Olympic logo), our MUSUBI knot, integrates the values that underpin both the Olympic Movement and Tokyo 2016. It ties together sport and culture, urban and natural environment, Japan and the world, the world and peace.”

Tokyo is the first applicant city to launch an Olympic logo, after Chicago was instructed to revamp its bidding logo due to violations of the IOC rules and regulations. If selected, Tokyo will need to add the Olympic rings and the title ‘Candidate City’ in its logo to mark the selection.

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In 2002, Hewlett-Packard (HP) acquired its rival Compaq Computers generating much controversy inside and outside the company. The US$ 25 billion deal cost the HP’s then CEO, Carly Fiorina, her job. However, buyers found the merger a welcoming change and have since recognized Compaq as a part of HP. But soon after the merger, a new problem was in sight for HP as consumers failed to understand the difference between HP and Compaq PCs.

After five years of unsuccessful tagging of the HP brand on Compaq products, HP recently unveiled a new Compaq logo at the “Making Connections” event in Shanghai. The new Compaq logo was introduced by HP’s Senior Vice President for Global Marketing, Satjiv Chahil, although, the new Compaq logo had already been on many Compaq laptops and PCs. The new Compaq logo is more modernistic in its approach, with a futuristic union of the letters ‘C’ and ‘Q’. In the new Compaq logo, a letter ‘C’ is added in the place of the lettering COMPAQ, with a tail ending of a ‘Q’. According to Chahil, “Just like the ‘swoosh’ does wonders for Nike, we think there are big possibilities for the CQ icon too”. Additionally, the new Compaq logo resembles a lot like a speech bubble, suggesting consumers to fill the Compaq logo with their own ideas and possibilities.

The new Compaq logo is an important brand strategy for the most reputed brand of laptops manufactured by HP. This clear-cut strategy was explained by HP’s Executive Vice President for Personal Systems Group, Todd Bradley, as, “Compaq is the brand you need, HP is the brand you want, Voodoo is the brand you crave for.” Thus, consumers will see the new Compaq logo on all the medium range laptops (Presario), whereas, the HP logo will continue to be displayed on higher-range products like the Pavilion series. On the other hand, Voodoo will take its place on more upper range products (ENVY).

Critics and consumers at the Shanghai “Making Connections” event heartily endorsed the new Compaq logo. All eyes and ears will be on the global computing markets in the coming months to know the initial reaction of HP and Compaq loyalties around the world. On the other hand, the new Compaq logo has successfully done the job for HP by clearing the confusion between the HP and Compaq products.

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Fiat has a new identity! Well, almost. It all happened last week, when Fiat’s UK operation changed its name. The company formerly known as Fiat Auto (UK) Ltd., renamed itself to Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd. on June 29, 2007. This change is a part of Fiat’s new corporate culture program. In steps to signify this transformation, the Fiat Group Automobile UK Ltd. has chosen a new Fiat logo which resembles with the previous Fiat logo of 1959. The previous logo was in use till 1965.

This new Fiat logo has adorned the company’s new Fiat Bravo, which went on sale on Saturday 30th June. The new Fiat logo is the continuation of FIAT’s initial image with red and grey colors. The grey in the new Fiat logo represents the metal coil used by the dealers for individualization, whereas, the ruby red symbolizes the spirit of the Fiat mark. The new brand name is Fiat Professional. The two versions of the new Fiat logo are jointly designed by the Fiat Style Center and Robilantassociati. The second version of the new Fiat logo with the word “PROFESSIONAL” under the main logo will be the new emblem used by the Fiat dealers in the UK.

In a statement issued by Fiat, Luca De Meo, Fiat’s Brand President, explains that the new Fiat logo will focus on the company’s rebuilding program and the newly created products. This new Fiat logo gives the company and the brand an international perspective of its utility range. However, in a striking contrast, the new Fiat logo is a modern modification of the company’s earlier Fiat logo.

The international community of customers and critics have enthusiastically accepted the new Fiat logo design due to its simplicity and relevancy. No doubt, the new Fiat logo intelligently translates the company’s vision into a brilliant statement of class, innovation and technology.

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The 4th of July is a momentous day in the history of America, commemorating the declaration of independence from the Great Britain in 1776. As part of the Independence celebrations, fireworks, parades, football games, and other private and public events are hosted throughout the nation, signifying the American culture, history and government. This patriotism is often seen enthusiastically displayed at various platforms of the society by means of American flags, badges, posters and logos. Even on the internet, many search engines and websites feature special 4th of July logos to signify their part in the nation-wide celebrations. Among them, we will look at some of the most famous and expressive 4th of July logos of this year. Our selection is taken from the following websites, which proudly displayed individual 4th of July logos on their respective homepages:

Yahoo
Yahoo displayed a flash-animated 4th of July logo. Upon clicking on the Yahoo’s 4th of July logo, animated fireworks are seen transforming into the greeting “Happy 4th of July”, while concluding the animation with a liberty crown on top of an ‘O’ and a flaming torch in place of the exclamation point as seen on the Statue of Liberty.

Google
Google had a very simple, yet patriotic 4th of July logo. An American flag was rendered in the lettering of Google as a background filling, while the ‘g’ in the logo featured the drawing of a Bald Eagle. On clicking Google’s 4th of July logo, the search engine directs the user to the search results of the 4th of July. But what Google was unsuccessful to accomplish in its 4th of July logo was consistency. Furthermore, the eagle did not resemble the letter ‘g’. Poor effort!

Dogpile
Dogpile commemorated the holiday by showing picnicking, barbeque and a lot of fireworks as its 4th of July logo. Relevant, but not interesting. Furthermore, by clicking on the 4th of July logo, Dogpile ran a search, displaying results for BBQ recipes. Relevant, and interesting.

It seems that the trend of featuring special logos on special occasions has become a popular practice in the mainstream web-business. Many other search engines and websites (like, Search Engine Roundtable, Exalead, etc.) featured special 4th of July logos on their webpages to celebrate and memorialize the Independence. However, many failed to express and portray the artistic impression and patriotic values of the ones’ mentioned above.