2012 logo : iconoclasm illustrated

…went the question posed on bbc’s ‘have your say’.

“if you do not like the current ‘logo’, then that might be symptomatic of the existence of some semblance of a good and free-thinking head on your shoulders.”

The 2012 logo is neither 'iconic' nor is it 'awful'.  Rather, it is iconoclastic.

It is similar to other such ‘icons’ of our times that are 'minimalist' in a historical and perspectival sense.  Many ‘modern’ icons or logos tend to solely promote an 'attitude' in the barest and most primal sense of the word.  There is no history attached to it.  There is nothing people can relate to on a personal or historical level.  There is no allusion to the positive aspects of our past.  Thus, like all ‘brands’, they attempt to disjoint us from all meaning, thus preparing us to be the perfect little consumer whose ‘history’ becomes little more than a pair of out-of-fashion flip-flops, or last season's Chanel or Louis Vuitton handbag, or other trends we mindlessly imbibed in the ‘oh-so-dated’ and ‘uncool’ past.  I suppose such 'logos' serve as yet another weapon in the war on the terror of memory retention - with the 'terror' emerging from the possible proliferation of profit-unfriendly characters whose personality is more than a mere reflection of the billboards of our times.

All that is left is the attitude, devoid of direction, meaning and belief, which, The Corporation, will then be able to harness and mobilise in any direction it sees fit for constant market regeneration.  When vigour, amongst other human potentials that are pregnant with potential, is stripped of ideology, belief and nostalgia, it, not unlike Chinese martial arts for instance, becomes the perfect tool for the powers-that-be.  A perfect body with no head will soon be led by those few with one.  It becomes a machine with no soul, but still in possession of the energy and ‘right’ attitude to go where its master bids.

In this sense, I suppose, the ‘designers’ of the 2012 London ‘logo’ got it right if they are appealing to the ‘internet generation’, many of whom, having been given the prominence of the proverbial soapbox (via ‘blogging’, amongst others) prior to acquiring a ‘head’, are becoming perfect hosts and incubators for the minimalistic trend-imbibing ‘identity’ intravenously fed to them through a myriad and multitude of conduits.  Perhaps, if anything is ‘awful’, it is the ‘identity’ that the designer’s feed on and reinforce via the ‘logo’. 

Incidentally, if you do not like the current ‘logo’, then that might be symptomatic of the existence of some semblance of a good and free-thinking head on your shoulders. 

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