Articles

Tokyo Panel Accepting 2020 Olympic Logo Proposals Again

by . November 26th, 2015

Remember that Tokyo 2020 Olympics logo plagiarism fiasco a few months ago?

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Yes this one.

As a refresher, the logo designed by graphic designer Kenjiro Sano for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was thrown into a plagiarism issue. The logo used a modified “T” with a black stem and gold and silver serifs and incorporates the Japanese flag’s red sun.

According to graphic designer Oliver Debie, the logo has uncanny similarities with the Olympics logo and his design work for the Théâtre de Liège in Belgium.

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Plagiarized?

Despite the dismissal of the Tokyo Olympics Committee as well the designer himself citing the allegation as completely baseless, the organizers decided to scrap the design and get back to the drawing board.

In their official website, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Committee is calling for emblem design submissions from noon of November 24 ending at noon December 7. All designs will be evaluated on January 2016.

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Proposed fan emblem

There are significant changes on the rules for the selection this time. In the first one, the organizers only accepted proposals from designers who have won a design award. Only 104 submissions were accepted.

This time, the process is open to all Japanese nationals aged 18 and above. The organizers are also accepting submissions made by a group, as long as the leader meets the age and nationality requirements. This enables underaged designers to take part in the design process.

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“We’re expecting at least 10,000 applications this time,” said Ryohei Miyata, head of the selection committee speaking to Japan Times

As of press time, the document detailing the design guidelines has been downloaded over 62 thousand times since it was made public last October.

The designer of the winning logo will be awarded 1 million yen (~$8 200) as well as an invitation in the opening ceremony.

The contest form for new logo submissions can be downloaded here.

Do you have a logo concept for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics? Comment below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kevin is a reader first, a writer second, and a gamer somewhere in between. When not rooting for Tyrion Lannister for the Iron Throne, he's probably writing some morbid short story. He enjoys some surreal art, clever advertising campaigns, and a warm cup of coffee while reading Murakami.