Nothing unique

Lithuanians tend to be overly patriotic and sincerely believe that the country has a lot of unique features. Unique sand dunes of the Curonian Spit, unique amber, unique passion for singing (Eurovision?) or basketball. To be honest, nothing is unique, not even the national scandals.

You may remember my earlier post on the competition to choose a logo for the country and the scandal surrounding it. Well, the competition has been finally cancelled and it might be relaunched some time soon. In this respect, I even started to believe that the situation was of no precedent and unique. I was wrong.

In 2012, London will host the Olympic Games, which is a big deal. This entails an influx of visitors and their cash to the city, not to mention newly-built infrastructure. Last June the logo for the 2012 London Olympics was unveiled and caused a whole lot of public debate, criticism, and even online petitions.

Six months later, in January this year I still read an article in the FT about the logo and the opposition against it. It's interesting how an emblem can cause so much reaction, comments and discussions.

The rationale behind choosing the graffiti-style logo for the 2012 London Olympics (pictured below) is the ambition to engage the multi-cultural young audience in Britain. "...to create a Games for everyone, where everyone is invited to take part", as the official 2012 London Olympics website says.

The style and colours of the logo are a matter of taste. But I especially liked the commotion around the logo and how, for example, the media accept the new product. A quote from the same FT article:

Martin Lambie-Nairn, chairman of the Lambie-Nairn firm, which has rebranded UK broadcasters Channel 4 and the BBC, thinks the Olympic launch was always likely to be controversial, particularly to a UK media critical of the rising cost of the games. “Launching brand identities to journalists is always very dangerous,” he says. “You show something for three minutes, and people go, ‘Is that it?’ The only thing the media is really interested in is the cost.”

If you are interested to read more about the 2012 London Olympics logo, here's an interesting column by Tyler Brûlé, editor-in-chief of Monocle.

Monocle

With the close of each calendar year, a number of people like to look back and compile their TOP10's of things that they consider as best that happened to them over those last 12 months. Top experiences, movies, books, achievements, etc. My last year's revelation was Monocle.

Monocle is a new international magazine that was launched in 2007. I spotted it last summer and it won me instantly. I was impressed by a perfect combination of quality content and stylish format. It's a well-branded magazine that publishes good stuff with an international perspective. It has offices in London, Tokyo, New York, Sydney and Zurich, which ensures a cosmopolitan range of topics. From A (affairs) to B (business) to C (culture) to D (design) and E (edits).

Smart style, smart writing and smart positioning. I enjoy reading Monocle and tell my friends about it. It's been great pleasure indeed.

I was told that its editor-in-chief was the founder of another prominent magazine, Wallpaper. Hence, special attention to the style and format of Monocle? Plus, in print and online, writers and photographers are dispatched to over 50 countries for every issue to deliver stories on forgotten states, alluring political figures, emerging brands, fresh forces in popular culture and inspiring design solutions.

Read and enjoy! And congrats to the Monocle's team on their one-year anniversary!