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© 2015 AFPTokyo 2020 Olympics logo design ruffles feathers abroad
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© 2015 AFP
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forzaducati
They should have kept the Tokyo 2020 Olympic presentation logo. Much more Japanese like.
ThonTaddeo
I just looked up the logo for the Theatre de Liege, and they really do look too similar for it to be coincidence.
And, knowing that the original logo is a T and an L, I can't stop seeing an L formed by the black vertical bar and the gray foot at the bottom right of the Tokyo logo. Why is that gray part even there? The gold part and the red sun combine to form the top of the T, but what is the gray part doing?
lationz
"But if you look closely, they do look alike"....lol. Such a predictable response.
Jorge Nihon
Change the logo Japan !
BurakuminDes
C'mon now, lets not be cynical - Japanese designers have never copied a foreign design/product! They always just...ahem... improve on it and make it more unique!
sanjigen
'T' and 'L' stands for Theatre Liege which makes sense but Tokyo o'Limpics? although with all these stumbles, it's becoming appropriate.
itsonlyrocknroll
Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga with a sheepish grin: 'Well I guess it varies from person to person. In any case, the government will refrain from official comment' .......Foot in mouth...
The Japan Graphic Designers Association (JAGDA) are world leaders in contemporary design. how did this happen?
dcog9065
Although it's a simple design, it looks far too similar to be kept. Surely there are other designs they could use
wontond
Like the stadium, they need to go back to the drawing board with this one, as well. Pull it together Japan, this is embarrassing.
gaijin6000
Isn't the similar design sort of like free publicity for those companies?
M3M3M3
ha, I just googled the Liege Theatre logo, its almost exactly the same. Logo design 101: When you come up with such a basic design you have to assume that someone is probably already using it, you need to do a search and ask around. Tokyo 2020 is quickly becoming a farce.
commanteer
Knowing the way things work here, someone probably outsourced the logo for fiverr.com and pocketed the rest of the budget for logo design.
Ali Khan
For a big event like Olympics this logo I tried hundreds of times to convince myself but in vain
Alan
I can't see the letter T at all. I see a great big "I" with a floppy hat behind, a red clown nose, and big clown shoes. Very appropriate.
kohakuebisu
To me, the Hey Studio logo, which ironically includes the words "Rebuild Japan", looks closer than the theatre one. Its a very similar design, and an almost identical colour scheme. If there is a design patent or some other kind of copyright on it, presumably it doesn't matter if the new design was produced by copying. Even coincidental use of something very similar is infringement. "I didn't know" doesn't work as a defence.
genjuro
Well, if you add some colors and tweaked a teeny bit from the Liege Theatre logo...
http://www.rtbf.be/culture/scene/detail_la-prochaine-saison-du-theatre-de-liege-explorera-les-identites?id=8973391
Jeff Ogrisseg
It's hideous. Just awful, made even more so by the serif font for "Tokyo 2020".
On the bright side, I'll save a fortune snatching up all the unsold ugly T-shirts to gift my relatives.
therougou
Not just the logo part, but he even copied the font for the words underneath, lol. You can see that here: http://kotaku.com/the-rip-off-controvesy-over-the-tokyo-olympics-logo-1720796383
Funny how people in another thread were saying how Japanese the design is, but now we know it is a complete rip-off of a foreign design.
supercub:
Hopefully the guy sues, because you know Japan won't change their decision unless their hand is forced. And I really want them to change this logo, since it doesn't represent the Olympics or sports in any way. Good logo for a theater, but not a sporting event.
badsey3
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-31/composite-of-tokyo-2020-logo-and-theatre-de-liege-logo/6664154
The Tokyo Olympics 2020 logo is 2 logos. 1/2 Very similar visually, but very different concepts.
therougou
Yes, one copied from a Belgian, and one copied from a Spaniard.
fxgai
It's funny, the Japanese are always accusing the Chinese of copying branded stuff.
Can Japan join the TPP with all this plagiarism being officially overlooked?
The government should resign and let the people manage the games instead.
ThePBot
Unlike China, Japan is very unique and originally creative!!!
Heckleberry
It would help if the story included a photo of the Belgian theatre logo.
http://jto.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/n-olymplogo-a-20150731.jpg
presto345
Yeah, an 'I' looking like an 'I' and a circle like a circle. Just my unprofessional opinion, but Sano's design looks (more) like a 'T' than Debie's. Debie's design expressed an 'L'. 'T' stands for Tokyo, Team and Tomorrow. 'L' for Liege. What's the fuss? Was it deliberate, or just a trendy typographical similar design?