At a special festive ceremony at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Organizing Committee of the 2014 World Cup made the official launch of the logo of the 2014 World Cup, to be held in Brazil.
The brand is the one that was leaked to the Press at the beginning of June: a composition of hands somewhat like the format of the FIFA World Cup. The proposal of the logo was submitted to a panel of judges, consisting of the President of the CBF, Ricardo Teixeira, the Executive Secretary of FIFA, Jérôme Valcke, and Brazilian celebrities like architect Oscar Niemeyer, philosopher and writer Paulo Coelho, singer Ivete Sangalo, designer Hans Donner and übermodel Gisele Bündchen. All these personalities appeared on the institutional video that was presented at the official ceremony.
On the video, the President of COL/2014, Ricardo Teixeira, sums up the opinion of the “notables” declaring that “The logo prepares you for the World Cup. On looking at the logo, no-one shall think of anything other than the World Cup in Brazil”.
No surprises
One month ago, when the 2014 Portal published the article about the logo, several readers showed their disappointment with the logo chosen by FIFA for the World Cup in Brazil. Aside from criticism about the logo itself, there were also doubts about the process through which the brand was chosen, this process being swathed amid great mystery: even now no-one knows who the logo was indeed created by, or even if they are Brazilian or foreigners. There have also been reservations about the choice of the celebrities who formed the panel of judges for this work.
Among Brazilian designers, the case caused both disappointment and controversy, as there had been an agreement between the Association of Brazilian Graphic Designers (ADG) and FIFA so that the process of selection of the brands for the 2014 World Cup would be co-ordinated by the Brazilian institution. In June, the professional people promised to bring out a joint statement about the decision, but by the closure of this article no such statement had in fact been published. Only two internal news articles were published on the ADG website, with comments on the process of negotiation between ADG and FIFA.
“Disgrace”
On 2 June, soon after the logo had leaked, the famous designer Alexandre Wollner, one of the forerunners of modern design in Brazil, who has created logos that have become true icons in the visual culture of the country, such as those of the Itaú Bank, Hering textiles and Philco electronics (please read interview), summed up his shock at seeing the logo in one word: “Disgraceful”.
Wollner analyzed the logo in the following manner: “In the color version, it looks like a face covered by the hands, as if in shame; it is not a brand but rather the illustration of an article on “the disgrace of Brazil” (for having lost the World Cup)! The ‘notables’ must have compared it with other poor drawings”. And he closes, surprised, by pondering: “But, after all, who took part in the competition? And was there a competition?”. Wollner also sent a message to the ‘notables’, for them to imitate the act of disgrace for having chosen this drawing.
highlights
04/05 | News
