Cluttered and restrictive, with too many elements, trying to say too many things to too many people. It’s at least two logos in one, and every designers nightmare.

The reason for this is that Fifa has recently decided to bring all it’s event logos under a new visual hierarchy, taking the role of parent brand, and reminding us who the daddy is. Fair enough from an ownership point of view but visually such heavy handedness restricts the individuality of that particular host to express their own personality.

So now what we get instead is ‘this years Fifa Football Festival templated emblem’ instead of a true identity for this years host.

The beauty of the World Cup is that every four years a different host nation gets to give their version of the competition. Their time, their look. That was how they did it. Now we have that, but all rammed in a Fifa shaped box.

Maybe the corporate blandness of France 98 forced them into a change of direction.

But the more likely goal, is by stamping their ownership all over the world’s greatest football competition, Fifa hope to emulate the status of the Olympic games and everything the IOC stands for. Fair play, multi-culturalism and unity through sport. Elevating themselves beyond organisers to guardians of the beautiful game.

Perversely the Olympics seem to have gone for the other way. After years of similar looking identities, they’ve allowed London 2012 to really spread its chunky wings and express itself.

Whatever you think of the much derided 2012 logo at least they should at least be applauded for allowing the games to have it’s own personality – unlike the formulated identities that went before.

So come on Fifa, how about taking the hand brake off and giving us a World Cup identity to remember, the way they used to be?

None of them are particularly beautiful and certainly won’t have won any awards, but at least they were unique and meant something.

I could draw you the Mexico 86 logo with my eyes closed – when I see it I imagine the baking mexican heat, ticker tape, Gary Lineker’s goal rush, Maradona’s mazy run. I smell a freshly opened pack of Panini stickers, the feel of an elusive foil sticker in my hand.

In 24 years time I doubt anybody will feel the same way about South Africa 2010 logo.

Tags: 2010, 2012, fifa, logos, olympics, south africa, world cup

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 11:24 AM and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.