Guru

What expensive and mind-altering drugs were the creatives at Wolff Olins on when they came up with the new logo for the London 2012 Olympic Games?

It's more than a year since the agency won the competitive tender "to refine the brand positioning for the London 2012 Games and develop a Games emblem and associated corporate identity".

And, 14 months of brainstorming, consulting, "brand positioning" and £400,000 later, this is the best they could come up with.

London 2012 explains (or should that be 'attempts to justify') the new brand in a film on its website.

It claims:

The new emblem is dynamic, modern and flexible. It will work with new technology and across traditional and new media networks.

It will become London 2012's visual icon, instantly recognisable amongst all age groups, all around the world. It will establish the character and identity of the London 2012 Games and what the Games will symbolise nationally and internationally.

That's fine, if we want our character and identity defined by the sort of graffiti-style doodle last seen on the back of a 1980s ski-jacket.

There's yet more post-rationalisation on the London 2012 blog (on which, incidentally, nothing has been seen or heard of Wendy Cartwright, head of HR at the Olympic Delivery Authority, since her last posting in April).