Olympic logo: kids challenge experts

IT'S child's play!

The official London 2012 logo cost a whopping £400,000 to design, but youngsters in Ipswich have produces a collection of fantastic alternative designs using just paper, pens and a bit of imagination.

The new Olympic logo, consisting of bold, jagged shapes spelling out 2012, has proved hugely controversial since it was launched earlier this week.

Now, children at Sprites Primary School, in the Chantry area, jumped at the chance to create what a top design firm appears to have failed at.

The year five students had just hours to produce bright logos combining the word London, the Olympic rings, and the year 2012.

And the whole class pronounced the official version “rubbish” with some pupils adding that it was confusing, like graffiti and failed to capture the Olympic spirit.

Ten-year-old Erin Allen, of Hawthorn Drive, said: “It's horrid. It doesn't link to anything athletic or sporty. The games are supposed to be inspiring children into sport but it isn't inspiring at all.

“I think it was a waste of money. It took me five minutes to make mine.”

And Shelia Healey, Erin's teacher at the Stonechat Road school, said: “The children really enjoyed it.

“They didn't have long to do it but they came up with some really good designs.”

Since the official logo was unveiled on Monday more than 20,000 people have signed an online petition demanding it is changed.

And further controversy emerged on Tuesday when the animated footage used to launch the new London 2012 brand had to be removed from the official website after claims that it could trigger epileptic seizures.

n Have you come up with a better logo? E-mail it to starnews@eveningstar.co.uk

The Nike 'swoosh' tick - the second most memorable logo in the world after McDonalds' 'golden arches' according to a recent survey - cost the equivalent of just £15 when it was designed by a graphics student in 1971.