The Apprentice: Challenge 4

[GFB]

CHALLENGE 4:

As most of you know, the Beijing Olympics will be starting quite soon, which is perfect for this challenge... Your challenge goes like:

Due to an unfortunate series of events, the Beijing Olympics will be unable to use their current logo. The game's officials are in chaos, scrambling around to figure out a solution... Rather than pleading with an expensive studio and paying a small fortune for their short timetable, they have decided to hire two small, unknown studios to create two new identities for the Olympic games. The winner will be chosen merely days before the opening ceremony...

Your challenge will be to create an identity for the Olympic games. You will not be allowed to use any of the design elements from the game's current logo.

Throwing a curveball into the challenge, you will also be required to come up with a mascot (or mascots) for the summer games.

The deadline for your in Wednesday, August 6th at noon...

Also, adding more drama to the challenges, the winning team will be told the next challenge right after the winning team is chosen. They will get a headstart on the next challenge...

Best of luck...

[eRay]

Great idea! I also like the headstart touch. Should add some incentive to win.

[morrissey]

Feel free to delete this post if outside commentary is not allowed, but how exactly will the headstart work? Assuming brainstorming will be done out in the open as it has been with all previous tasks, won't the losing team be able to piece together the task guidelines even if they aren't given the specific objective until later, simply by reading the opposing team's thread? And if brainstorming is done in private to counteract this (through PM/email/messaging programmes), it takes away the ability of the judges to be able to view the entire process from conception to completion. As a curious observer of this competition, I'm intrigued to know how this could be done to ensure the winning team has a true advantage, but without sacrificing the current openness of the competition.

Again, sorry if this message is inappropriate.

[GFB]

Feel free to delete this post if outside commentary is not allowed, but how exactly will the headstart work? Assuming brainstorming will be done out in the open as it has been with all previous tasks, won't the losing team be able to piece together the task guidelines even if they aren't given the specific objective until later, simply by reading the opposing team's thread? And if brainstorming is done in private to counteract this (through PM/email/messaging programmes), it takes away the ability of the judges to be able to view the entire process from conception to completion. As a curious observer of this competition, I'm intrigued to know how this could be done to ensure the winning team has a true advantage, but without sacrificing the current openness of the competition.

Again, sorry if this message is inappropriate.

No, that's a valid question... I appreciate you asking that...

The members of the winning team will be PMed and informed of the next challenge after their victory. However, it will be difficult for the team members to stay in touch through PMs or e-mails... So all that I think will take place is that it gives team members a few extra days to come up with concepts and be a little ahead of schedule when the deadlines come around. Plus, when the challenge actually starts, you'll have everyone explaining to their fellow team members what they have come up with and how they got there... But if teams want to take full advantage of the headstart and fully organize, then they're welcome to do so. Unlikely in my mind, but possible.

Also, remember that I'm kinda making this up as I go along... So if I try something new and it fails, we just won't try it again... sort of a trial-and-error approach...

[SG30]

Are we allowed to use "Olympic Imagery" such as the torch in our logos? I know its not allowed with Applicant/Candidate city logos, seeing as what happened to Chicago. I've been looking for IOC rules on Host City logos but I've been unsuccessful thus far.

Rules for logos are specifically listed in Appendix 1 here- http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1124.pdf

Article on the Chicago logo- http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/20...474334623_x.htm

[maz]

Can we please start getting these posts stickied?

[gingerbreadmann]

Can we please start getting these posts stickied?

Haha yeah, we don't really need Challenge 1 up there any more.

[GFB]

Are we allowed to use "Olympic Imagery" such as the torch in our logos? I know its not allowed with Applicant/Candidate city logos, seeing as what happened to Chicago. I've been looking for IOC rules on Host City logos but I've been unsuccessful thus far.

Rules for logos are specifically listed in Appendix 1 here- http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1124.pdf

Article on the Chicago logo- http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/20...474334623_x.htm

I must have missed this question...

hmm... you know, I'm not really sure... I guess I'd have to say no, but if someone else out there knows better than me, feel free to let me know...

Hope this doesn't affect your designs... if it does, pm me, and we'll talk it over...

[mania]

I'm almost 100% sure that the actual logo CAN, but the bid logos can not. Hence, why Atlanta's was nothing but the flame.

[Brian in Boston]

There is no IOC prohibition against depicting the Olympic torch in a host city's logo. Atlanta's 1996 Summer Olympiad logo featured a stylized torch, while there was nothing at all "stylized" about the torch at the center of Melbourne's 1956 Summer Olympiad logo.

[GFB]

There is no IOC prohibition against depicting the Olympic torch in a host city's logo. Atlanta's 1996 Summer Olympiad logo featured a stylized torch, while there was nothing at all "stylized" about the torch at the center of Melbourne's 1956 Summer Olympiad logo.

There you have it... you can use the Torch...

Thanks for the help Brian!

[scottysprings]

Beijing National Stadium

Beijing, China

14:52 GMT+8

An unfortunate series of events have lead to the abandonment of the current identity package for the quickly approaching Games of the XXIX Olympiad. With the opening ceremonies set to commence in just 2 days, the IOC and Olympic Officials have turned to the emerging Prodigy Design Collective to establish a new graphic identity worthy of the Olympic Games. After a week of hard work, the team of designers at PDC have put together a powerful graphic package that touches upon the culture of host city Beijing and the spirit of the Olympiad. Without further adieu, PDC is proud to present the graphic identity of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The design of the main "dragon head" logo and wordmark draw upon distinct elements of China's culture and history while remaining true to classic symbols of the Olympic Games. The dragon is an unrivaled figure in Chinese culture and conveys strength and power, two important traits for competing athletes. Another important aspect of the logo is a sublimated flame and torch, a symbol of the Olympiad and the spirit it brings.

Sticking with the Dragon motif, the mascot of the Games is Jié, a playful dragon. Jié's name is Chinese for victory and triumph, which allude to the competitive nature of the Olympic games.

The athletic wear designs feature the main design marks as well as Jié graphics, which will appeal to spectators both young and old.

Lastly, a set of promotional banners were designed to showcase the new identity of the games. The design of the banners is very simplistic in an attempt to accentuate the newly designed graphics.

[Cola]

With great honor, Optimus presents a replacement identity for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China:

The above logo is the proposed logo from Optimus for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The logo was intended to have the same feel as former Olympic logos by appearing abstract while keeping the elements of the design simple and fresh.

The Chinese pagoda is a traditional mark of Chinese architecture and is recognized worldwide for its unique and spectacular design, which makes it an important symbol in relation to worldwide competition and athleticism. The logo was designed with a 45 degree ground-level view in mind.

Our proposal features two mascots: young, playful male and female tortoises. In Chinese mythology, the tortoise is thought to be a spiritual creature that symbolizes longevity- synonymous with the Olympic games, which is the oldest form of organized athletic competition in world history. The names simply translate into "tortoise" of each gender.

The above displays are examples of the logo set if they were to appear on actual items during the Olympics: a street banner with advertisement and the highly sought-after gold, silver, and bronze medals.

The typeset and numerals featured above were chosen for their simple structure that compliments the logo well. The color choices are reminiscent of various things in Chinese culture: popular colors in the Chinese dragon parades as well as a small likeness to the colors of the Chinese national flag. The warm colors are appropriate for a "summer" meeting of the Olympics.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Let me just say this, the Optimus Design was simply BRILLIANT!!! From the unique design of the logo, to the added wall banner, to the surpise medals and the cute turtles, everything was just simply amazing!

Prodigy did a good design aswell, but I think the antlers were enphesized way more then they needed to be though; like I never even noticed them before this challenge. I also like the "hidden flame" idea, but with the antlers there, it feels kinda forced. Also the mascot looks like it only has 3 legs. I really like the wordmark, it feels like a true olympic logo. I was also quite disapointed that I didn't see your slogan, the Peoples Games, mainly because of everything thats been going on lately, thats kinda been China's focus.

[maz]

Well, like was pointed out to us, the slogan couldve been taken as a phrase glorifying communism - hence why we also took out the stars.

I was against taking out the stars (if only for the astetics of them) and I really liked the phrase, but the rest of the group thought it was nessicary to get rid of it when dp said someone told him it can be seen as glorifying communism, then when SG posted the meaning behind the stars on the flag, it looked like the best choice to get rid of them.

[fiasco!]

I guess I'll go first again.

Logo: Both are very good, but as a designer, I love the simplicity of Optimus' entry. The pagoda theme is very Chinese to me and is done very well in an abstract way. Prodigy's Dragon design is also nice, but, I feel the flame component is forced and the antlers look kinda goofy. Both teams have nice wordmarks, but I give Optimus the edge on legibility alone. It's a sweet typeface that would translate to other languages and work with all of the event names very well. Optimus' logo works so well in single and four color formats. Edge: Optimus

Mascot: Hands down, Optimus. I would so buy those turtles for my kids. That's really the only deciding factor I had in this area.

Banners/Etc.: Prodigy did a great job with the banner designs. While I'm not fond of the logo, the way it is used on the banner is great. I like Optimus' banner as well, but I feel the bottom portion is a bit of overkill. Edge: Prodigy

Overall: At first glance a few hours ago, I thought this was going to be alot closer than it really was. Optimus' design chops are really starting to show and they are really gelling as a team. The get my vote in this challenge based on a superior (and strikingly simple) identity system and one of the cutest damn mascots I've ever seen. Their identity simply says "China" to me, while Prodigy's says "the western world's view of China" (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not my cup o' tea).

[maz]

Their identity simply says "China" to me, while Prodigy's says "the western world's view of China"

How, exactly?

[Brian in Boston]

LOGO

Optimus created a logo that is, in my opinion, the finest work that we've seen in this competition to date. It embraced the iconic simplicity that most modern Olympic host logos have exibited since the 1972 Munich games. Use of a pagoda as the central image was inspired. I particularly like the upward, 3/4 perspective in which the logo was rendered, as it subtly draws the eye "higher"... thus, communicating the idea of athletes attempting to reach the "height" of peak athletic performance. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but pagodas are traditionally designed with an odd number of floors, just as the one in the Optimus logo happened to be depicted. The wordmark font nicely complements the style in which the logo was designed. My one minor quibble is that there is a lot of negative space between the top of the wordmark and the lowest level of the pagoda. Might the logo have been better served by moving the Olymoic rings into that space? Still, that's a minor concern. Outstanding work!

Prodigy's logo ranks a distant second in my opinion. First, I found it to be much too busy. The plethora of shapes, the hidden image and the sharpness of the angles in the faux Asian font all combined into what I would describe as a "jumble". There was just too much going on. In recent Olympic history, the closest I've seen to a host city attempting to integrate this many shapes and elements in a logo was Atlanta's mark in 1996... and they just got away with it. Prodigy's logo does not.

Second, I'm a bit disappointed in the selection of a dragon as the logo's focal point. Not to speak for anyone else, but this strikes me as a "Western world" view of China. In the modern People's Republic of China, dragons are not often used as symbols. This stems from the fact that they were historically associated with imperial rule. In fact, for hundreds of years commoners were not allowed to use the dragon as a symbol in any way. Further, the dragon has come to be linked to the yang - or, male - aspect of Chinese philosophy. As a result, many Chinese would think that using a dragon as the primary symbol of the Beijing Olympic Games would fail to represent the female half of the country's population, as well as the women amongst the athletes.

Edge: Optimus (by a wide margin)

MASCOT

Truth be told, neither team's mascot blew me away.

I felt that Prodigy's dragon had the potential to achieve an almost Disney-esque depth of "character" and "personality". However, while I saw a spark of that sort of depth in the rendering of the character's face, the body seemed pedestrian by comparison and the antlers looked as if they were taped to the back of the character's head. Further, after having used a dragon as the central symbol in the main logo, I felt that simply drawing a cartoon-like dragon was a bit too "spot-on" as a mascot. Unfortuantely, once Prodigy went down the road of using a creature as the focal point of the main logo, their hands were a bit tied when faced with creating a complementary mascot character.

As for Optimus, they went the "cute and cuddly" route. Too "cute and cuddly" for my personal taste. They seem almost generically Asian/anime to me in terms of their design. There's a "Hello Kitty" knock-off vibe around them. I could see these characters showing up on cheap, mass-produced, Chinese/Taiwanese/Japanese merchandise just in time for "Back-to-School" sales. That said, I'm sure that they'd move a slew of merchandise. I also like the attention to detail on crafting their individual names and coming up with a rationale with selecting tortoises as the mascots.

Edge: Optimus

BANNERS, ETC.

I felt that Prodigy's sublimated wordmark on the entire banner surface made for an extremely nice backdrop. It brought life to a pretty staid medium. Unfortunately, the event logo and mascot looked no better on the banners than they did on the presentation templates. The clothing applications were a nice touch. The logo and wordmark made for nice appliques on the sweatshirt. Perhaps this identity package has a future as a sportswear line.

The Optimus banners seemed a bit plain. The slogan across the bottom was a bit forced. However, the superior quality of the logo more than made up for either of those "shortcomings". Very professional touch to include the font and color values (Mandarin Orange? ). The medals were a nice touch, though they didn't blow me away.

EDGE: Optimus

OVERALL EVENT WINNER

Optimus

[fiasco!]

Their identity simply says "China" to me, while Prodigy's says "the western world's view of China"

How, exactly?

That's just, like, my opinion, man.

edit: Now that I've read BiB's judging, it's safe to say it's two men's opinion.

[maz]

EDIT: Yeah, I understood it was your opinion, I wanted to know what you saw that made you think that.