Earlier this month the 2012 Olympic artists' posters were released - a series by contemporary artists from different fields which continues a concept that began with the 1972 Munich games intended to 'represent the intertwining of arts and sports worldwide'. I think it's a great idea that this tradition has been revived for the 2012 games but it's a huge shame that the context wasn't communicated better as the artists have gained a lot of criticism in terms of the posters not being effective visual messages for promoting the games (which they were not intended to be). The artist's were given the brief which "encouraged them to celebrate the Games coming to London and to look at the values of the Olympic or Paralympic Games". Their responses were therefore works of art that show the artist's emotional response towards the games rather than promotional material with communication objectives. Viewed from this perspective I think it is perfectly valid to criticise the work based on artistic merit and subjective choice, rather than as a piece of advertising. As you would probably expect with an fairly open brief given to a group of diverse artists, the responses are erratic, but then you could argue that that is the beauty of the project.
If you're unimpressed with the official versions, there are some other nice alternatives from students at Kingston University on Creative Review.
And here's my own take...
Can you guess my emotional response?