The Olympics logos are developed and promoted far in advance of the actual event. July 24, 2015, exactly five years before the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympic games, its logo was unveiled to the world.
And, almost immediately, allegations of plagiarism arose.
The 2020 Tokyo logo was designed by Kenjiro Sano, a highly-regarded graphic designer in Japan. French designer Olivier Debie claims that Sano’s logo is too similar to his own logo design created for Belgium’s Théâtre de Liège — even down to the typeface used.
Debie’s logo design is not registered as a trademark, yet has been in use since 2013. This little legal loophole, that the theatre’s logo was not officially trademarked, is being used by the organizing committee to justify the use of Sano’s logo design. Sano claims he had never before seen the theatre’s logo, and would never copy someone else’s work.
Meanwhile, many passionate citizens of Japan have voiced a desire to simply go back to the interim logo that was used until Tokyo was confirmed as the host city and the final logo revealed. The interim logo, featuring a colorful cherry blossom wreath, strikes many as being more representative of Japanese culture, and more aesthetically pleasing.
Whether or not Debi decides to take legal action against Sano or the Olympic Committee remains to be seen. As well, we wait to see if Sano’s logo will remain the official 2020 Olympics symbol or be replaced by something less controversial.
There is a lesson to be learned on both ends. First, if you have something worth protecting, protect it. Secondly, do your due diligence to try and avoid claims of plagiarism before they can even be thrown your way! Of course, all of this is easier said than done. Allegations of plagiarism can be tricky, and in this case, the issue was exacerbated by two unfortunate factors:
Recently another Japanese graphic designer has proposed and released his own alternate design on Twitter (@vivakankan), which I love. Personally, I’d be happy to see this replace the current logo. Hey, 2020 is still five years away… fingers crossed!
Update, September 2, 2015: The controversy was too much, I suppose. After other allegations of plagiarism by Sano came to light, his Olympics logo has now been pulled. You can read more about the decision on CNN.com.
On occasion, after designing a logo, I have people ask if they need to trademark it, and if I can do it for them. You’d think a simple question would have a simple answer, but there’s a little more to it than that…
You may have admired Google’s fantastically fluid logo without giving it more than a passing thought. A couple of keywords in the search box and you’re ready to explore the infinite wisdom of the World Wide Web. But before you go, why not take a minute to learn a lesson or two from those innovative Doodles?
Don’t be fooled by the term “negative space.” When it comes to logo design, negative space can be used in very positive ways. As with many other aspects of design, we can look to the field of psychology for insight on how to use negative space to create a memorable logo.
