X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
We didn't care for Tokyo's Olympics logo when it was unveiled earlier this week. Now, it appears that the design has a bigger problem than just uninspired design; it bears a striking similarity to another logo.
Designed by Kenjiro Sano, the 2020 Olympics logo features a rectangular pillar, with two triangles on its top and bottom. So does Studio Debie’s emblem for the Belgian Théâtre de Liège. There are differences: Debie's version has white shapes set in a black circle, while Sano's has gold, silver, and black forms as well as a rising red "sun."
Studio Debie's founder, Olivier Debie, strongly suggested in a tweet that Sano ripped off his 2011 design. Sano, in a statement issued by the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, said, “I have no particular comment to make.”
Accusations of plagiarism are common in the graphic design world. When Airbnb rebranded last year, introducing the little Bélo icon, it didn't take long for armchair design critics to accuse the company of lifting the logo from not one but two other companies' branding identities. And there's a site, called Logo Thief, devoted to documenting such occurrences.
This is one of the perils of drawing simple lines and shapes. Certain combinations of geometric forms will inevitably look like others, making it more difficult to cast blame than some designers might like. But it also pays to do some research to make sure your design doesn't closely resemble one that's already out there.
