If at first you don’t succeed… or get caught plagiarizing. Try, try again.
Just nine months after unveiling their original logo for both the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Tokyo Organizing Committee has announced yet another new set of logos, this time featuring more of a chequered pattern and less of a trademark infringement look to it.
From the press release:
Chequered patterns have been popular in many countries around the world throughout history. In Japan, the chequered pattern became formally known as “ichimatsu moyo” in the Edo period (1603-1867), and this chequered design in the traditional Japanese colour of indigo blue expresses a refined elegance and sophistication that exemplifies Japan.
Composed of three varieties of rectangular shapes, the design represents different countries, cultures and ways of thinking. It incorporates the message of “unity in diversity”. It also expresses that the Olympic and Paralympic Games seek to promote diversity as a platform to connect the world.
The original logo was panned by critics and quickly called out by a Belgian designer, saying the logo was a rip-off of one they had created for a theatre. In September the committee announced they would be dropping the logo due to this charge and replacing it with a new one.
Yeah, it’s an improvement.
As mentioned the Paralympic mark was also unveiled today, taking on that same checkered idea:
The logos come after a design competition was held, open only to residents of Japan. Nearly 15,000 entries were submitted eventually narrowed down these four finalists (each comprising of a Olympic and Paralympic design):
The winning design (A, obviously), was created by Asao Tokolo of Tokyo, you can see his portfolio site here.
Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Summer Games gets underway in just 1,551 days with the opening ceremonies being held on July 24, 2020.