Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: art and design critics have questioned whether the posters unveiled on Friday to celebrate next year’s London Olympics truly represent the best of British creativity.

Mark Hudson of The Telegraph says that “overall, there are more hits than misses” among the posters by twelve leading British artists. He points to Fiona Banner’s work as the standout example, claiming its typographic combination of evocative phrases “feels appropriate to these challenging times.”

The Guardian‘s Jonathan Glancey also praises Banner’s design, describing it as “the most introspective, serious and moving of all these posters,” while questioning whether some of the designs are “aimed at art fans or athletics fans.”

Patrick Burgoyne of UK visual communication magazine Creative Review reports that members of the graphic design community were disappointed not to be given the chance to participate in the design process but is unconvinced that the results would have been much better given such an open brief.

The BBC‘s arts editor Will Gompertz says that the abstract nature of the posters means they lack context, adding “with this collection, you wouldn’t know where the games are being held. Maybe that in itself is a statement.”

Our readers were largely unimpressed with the standard of the designs – see the story and comments here and all of our stories on the London 2012 Olympics here.

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