Why is Olympic Branding So Bad? (A Design Deep Dive)

[@Aaron_K]

My left ear loved this

[@isaacdelgado2543]

I thought I was getting crazy

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Argh. I can’t believe I did that. First time using Davinci Resolve. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@RaymondHng]

@@PixelpusherStudio It least it matched the gesturing of only the hand on the left.

[@morganburt2565]

the design reminds me of how many brands have simplified the logos in the past decade or so. while i think it’s an attempt to look modern, everything looks the same now. think google or even zoup. great video!

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Thanks! I totally agree. I’ve got an episode about the history of Pepsi rebrands coming up. Their latest version is the perfect example of this sad trend.

[@bqcaptures]

Love your work! Keep up with such well researched content and you’ll grow! Only feedback would be that your eyes keep darting so my educated guess would be youre reading off a script. But with more rehearsals and talking into the camera more, you can connect with viewers more so keep up the amazing stuff ❤

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the feedback. Working with a teleprompter is super awkward, but I’m hoping I’ll figure it out soon.

[@vzzniko]

The main problem is that the designers completely ignored the most recongizable symbol of Paris and France -- Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower is so powerful symbol that it would enhance the whole Oplympics marketing campaign like a lot.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

I can understand why some of the French commenters are pushing back on that, but there’s no denying that it’s a key element of the global French “brand”. Did you see Allan Peter’s take on it? It’s fantastic. instagram.com/reel/C-A09arOl8U/?igsh=bjJ1NWQzYXhvdW1n

[@greysnake2903]

Marianne who? Eiffel Tower best logo.

[@bolehtahan]

well the Paris bid logo was the Eiffel Tower. not sure why they changed it.

[@zwanneman]

I think the Paris 2024 logo is the best Olympic logo in resent history. While most logos are colourful but, to my eyes meaningless, the Paris logo was a whole experience on its own. Let me make it clear, I am not a designer, not a Parisian nor French but this logo felt the most French and Parisian to me. The fist couple of times I saw the logo I just saw a stylised elegant (French) flame (Olympics) and then after a while when I saw the face it suddenly became the most Parisian thing to me. It reminded me of the movie "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain", or "Amelie" for short, which every time I see the movie makes me go back to Paris.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

I totally appreciate your take on this. I’m curious - what do you think about the 1900 Paris Games logo? Do you think just giving it an update would’ve been better or worse than what they went with? Personally, I’m not sure because they seem to come from similar ideas. olympics.fandom.com/wiki/Paris_1900

[@zwanneman]

I think the Eiffel Tower is too cliche. If you doing something to show France to the world there’s so much more you can use.

[@heetai427]

Nah ! Paris logo is perfection.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

From a design perspective, I agree with you - it's flawlessly executed. From a brand perspective, I'm not sure it matters, you know?

[@BadGoyfs-MTG]

Excellent, it's probably the best video yet, I do agree with you; they could have been much more concise. The current one looks like a perfume logo or a runway costume designer logo.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Or a secondary logo for Goop.

[@yaninyunus]

I don't know how youtube suggested me your channel but it meant you are doing something right, definitely learned more. Looking forward to see more!!

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@MalenkiyPelmeni]

I love that you said subtlety and then suggested as example the Eiffel Tower. Dude, you said yourself the logo matters in how WE want to be represented as a country, and sorry you lack knowledge about french culture but Marianne is a big symbol of the french revolution and freedom, our culture goes beyond baguette and croissants. At least show some backbone and put your own work to our judgement by implementing your suggestions for us to be able to compare the current and "improved" version, instead of just nagging other people's work.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Check this out: www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1034171/paris-2024-unveil-eiffel-tower-inspired-olympic-and-paralympic-games-bid-logo This French logo by French designers played a massive role in bringing the Games to France. It was internationally celebrated. It's also an Eiffel Tower. I think it's great, especially how it forms a "2" and a "4", which is a clever way of tying in the year. I probably would have gone in a similar direction if I were on this project. Sure, it may be a little on the nose, but it works. Ask yourself this - if they hadn't told you this version had a link to Marianne, would you have guessed that in a million years? Probably not. My first thought was they were referencing Moulin Rouge - no, not the movie. It's okay to say they got it wrong. It was likely a decision made by a handful of people, and I'd like to believe that no professional designer feels like that's a reflection of French culture in any way.

[@gc-tm1tv]

It looks like Marianne has a receding hairline.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Those designers did not do Marianne any favors.

[@samuelbeall439]

The Paris Logo immediately reminds me of the I Dream of Genie show intro, and/or a tribal image of Elizabeth Taylor, great episode.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Oh yeah! I hadn’t thought of that. That’s totally Barbara Eden.

[@heartless7494]

i'm french and I had never heard anyone mention that it was supposed to be Marianne lmao Is there a single feature that hints towards this? Other than the logo being a woman, i guess

[@PixelpusherStudio]

That’s what is kind of strange about it - the designers have stated it’s Marianne multiple times, but what about it even hints at that? It’s just a bad haircut on some unfortunate abstract character.

[@heartless7494]

@@PixelpusherStudio It's the olympic flame, with the negative space being a stereotypical chic parisian haircut. It doesn't have to be Marianne and saying so is a stretch. I don't think it's a great design but a different color would've made it on par with past games, they're never THAT memorable imo. The pictograms suck though

[@Feeshermon]

It's not bad. I like it.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

That’s one of the things I love about design - it can be really subjective. I can absolutely see why folks like it, it’s just not for me.

[@Cheers.-]

All this talk in chapter 5 and we can't see what your results would look like?

[@PixelpusherStudio]

That’s a good question. I was sketching something, and then I saw Alan Peters’s take on it. I can’t do any better than this. It’s brilliant. instagram.com/p/C-FbeaeufgO/?igsh=d2hzd3p2angxbGU2

[@Cheers.-]

@@PixelpusherStudio Well I'm glad I can see what your vision is, but this is very obviously made with a non-French perspective and would have not been received well by French people, because there is so much more about paris than that one landmark and we already have an issue of being stereotyped to only Eiffel towers, berets and baguette.

[@achirasilva2567]

@@PixelpusherStudio Imo this proposed logo is good but the issue is that the original 5 ring logo is being altered. Which breaks the rules of brand identity I guess. And it ruined the historical significance of that logo too.

[@DetPendergast]

I also find that the logo and the mascot do not really go together well. When the logo and the mascot are both abstract, both disliked, and do not go together well, it seems like both designs failed

[@PixelpusherStudio]

Unfortunately, this seems like a design-by-committee situation, where the designers were forced to try to link multiple weak concepts together. I’ve been there. It’s the worst, and the work always reflects that.

[@heartless7494]

the mascot is abstract? they are phrygian caps! the hat of the French revolution. But agreed that they don't go well together in design. They would if the logo leaned wayyy more into the Marianne inspo

[@lafleur9277]

I would have loved to see a logo made by you!

[@PixelpusherStudio]

That’s a fun challenge - actually showing how I would have done it. I may need to do that next.

[@lafleur9277]

@@PixelpusherStudio Definitely!

[@meicox3924]

Just me or no audio ?

[@PixelpusherStudio]

It’s not you. I messed up and only have dialogue on the left channel.

[@meicox3924]

@@PixelpusherStudio Oh! Right, lol. I only had my right airpod on, so I only heard the music intro and then nothing.

[@jon_racinskas]

@@meicox3924 That’s hilarious. I only had my left AirPod in when editing it, so I didn’t notice.

[@casualuser5527]

You talk very slowly and over-enunciate your words. The editing also keeps a lot of dead space. You may prefer it as is, but my suggestion is that you speed up the pacing.

[@PixelpusherStudio]

That’s a fair point. It’s a habit I picked up working abroad for so long -- I over-enunciate for non-native English speakers. My natural speaking tempo is crazy fast with the f-word often functioning as punctuation. I’m aiming for something in the middle eventually.

[@annabarr1304]

It's great ASMR! Only Americans talk fast and loud, it's considered rude just about everywhere else.

[@jon_racinskas]

@@annabarr1304Thanks! We have a second channel starting next week - stories narrated for kids. That’s totally ASMR.

[@abbottabbott1120]

@@PixelpusherStudio I like it a lot, I wouldn't change a thing. People can play the video back more quickly if they prefer it to be quicker.

[@jon_racinskas]

@@abbottabbott1120Aww! Thanks! I’ve been thinking about my pacing. It looks like quite a few of the viewers of this video live in countries where English might not be a primary language. So, even if it annoys native speakers, I’m going to keep enunciating for those who care enough about the topic to watch foreign language content. (I worked in ESL media for years, so I’m sensitive to that.)

[@kaischoneweiss]

as much as its ok to critique other designers work, its kind of cringey to be like "they should have consulted me first". its wild to make all these suggestions on how to improve the logo but not show any changes you made yourself. i do agree though with much about what you said

[@PixelpusherStudio]

That was meant to be a joke. I can’t think of a single reason why they would ask me to consult other than the fact that I have a pulse and an opinion ;)

[@kaischoneweiss]

@@PixelpusherStudio its pretty obviously a joke now that i think about it more, sorry for the comment 🤣

[@jon_racinskas]

@@kaischoneweissI’m actually glad you said something. I’m sure you’re not the only one who hears that and thinks “what a jerk!”. I usually go for worse dad jokes to avoid that 😂