The pictograms for the 2012 Olympics have just been released. It’s interesting to compare them to the historic counterparts such as the famous 1972 Munich set by Otl Aicher. The new set was apparently done by British firm SomeOne. Despite the fact that the controversial 2012 Olympic logo made such a break from tradition, the pictograms are more in line with historical approaches. It’s a difficult assignment to make something highly stylized and maintain the required legibility, never mind the olympic approval process.

To see a collection of historical olympic pictograms, visit the
Olympic Museum. -Via Creative Review