Let the Games Begin

Speaking of Great Britain, I feel that I should say something about the digital media that the country is creating in honor of the upcoming 2012 Olympics, which will be hosted in the British Isles. The website for London 2012 is making rhetorical appeals to many forms of participatory culture, despite the fact that much of the action will be structured by the norms governing passive consumption of spectator sports.

Many design blogs have been dishing the visually chaotic faux-graffiti logo for the games. In fact, over 50,000 people have already signed an online petition to have the logo changed. (I don't know whether the success of the London logo petition should be encouraging or discouraging to organizers of human rights' petitions with more gravitas, such as those dramatized in a recent ad campaign by Amnesty International.)

There is some interesting coverage of the controversy at BAGnewsNotes and spurgeonblog. BAGnews argues that is important to see the image in the context of an overall web design strategy, while spurgeon points out that the invitation to "remix" the logo using "starter templates" and the inspiration of "some examples" merits attention. It may not be as appealing as the materials at Creative Commons, but it may encourage Britons to manipulate elements of what Lawrence Lessig has called "remix culture" well in advance of the lighting of the torch.