Project: LOOP

The Olympics might be on their way to Chicago (in NINE years), but hey, people seem to be catching the Olympic Fever.

But something that most people aren’t really focusing on is how great the branding is for the Olympic bid. Take the logo for example; it’s clean, elegant, and if you look closely it even has Batman’s head in it.

Seriously though, the branding is great. The branding and advertising design were done by VSA Partners Inc. in Chicago (though they have multiple offices), and was all done pro-bono. Seriously. They were paid nothing. Below is a selection from the VSA website. {full text here}

Chicago-headquartered VSA Partners was engaged as a pro-bono design partner in August 2006 by the Chicago 2016 bid committee. The firm’s design work for previous Olympic Games sponsors, including The Coca-Cola Company and USWest, as well as brand strategy and visual identity work for other global organizations, led to VSA’s selection.

Now, of course I realize that they are being paid in notoriety and publicity. But still, I like that it was free! And if you think that the logo isn’t that great, check out some of the Olympic logos from the 2012 bid.