ICM - Leeds Design Agency

Who is in charge of design as a whole for the London Olympics? It might just be me, but I think they’ve taken leave of thier senses. I just don’t understand some of the decisions that have been made. Having just got over the initial shock of the 2012 logo which I have to admit I wasn’t too keen on at first, along come Wenlock, Mandeville and the Orbit.

Lets start with Wenlock and Mandeville the mascots for 2012 Olympics – creatures supposedly fashioned from droplets of steel used to build the stadium. With a metallic finish, a single large eye made out of a camera lens, a London taxi light on their heads and the Olympic rings represented as friendship bracelets on their wrists they resemble… well nothing.

The names I can put up with as they have meaning. Wenlock, named after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock that helped inspire Pierre de Coubertin to launch the modern Olympics, and Mandeville, inspired by the Buckinghamshire town of Stoke Mandeville, where the Paralympics were founded. Lord Coe, said the mascots were aimed squarely at children and designed with the digital age in mind. So ok, maybe I shouldn’t get too annoyed as they are not even aimed at people over four foot.

It just seems nowadays we can’t have anything “normal”. The official mascot for the World Cup in 66 for example was a lion called World Cup Willy, a straight forward no nonsense lion who wore a Union Flag shirt of red, white and blue. Maybe it’s just me getting old.

Then we come to the Orbit designed by Anish Kapoor who has done some very nice work around the world, but here in my opinion has created a monstrosity beyond all comprehension. What is it? Why does it look liKe a trumpet roller coaster? Why do they keep comparing it to the Eiffel Tower?

The Eiffel tower became a work of art in the eyes of the world against the protestations of the Parisian art world. The massive iron structure appears graceful and almost part of the natural environment. By comparison, Kapoor’s structure is a prime example of man demonstrating his mastery over nature. All it represents is, we could, so we did.

Whether you love it or hate it, the last word should go to Boris Johnson the Mayor of London, who said of the Orbit: “It would have boggled Gustave Eiffel”. Well no I’m having the last word Boris, it’s rubbi…

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Almost a year ago I gave birth to my daughter and since then I have been challenged by the gender stereotypes ever since. Are the gender differences natural or taught?

Pink Stinks is a campaign that has been set up to try and tackle the issue of marketing just pink and fluffy to girls. Is the marketing of pink and fluffy toys and clothes to girls forcing a generation of girls in a box or simply giving them what they already want?

I will admit I dress Maddi in some lovely dresses and pink things but I also bought her a toy digger and lorry recently which she loves. As I don’t want to push my daughter into a certain role I also don’t want to deny her the right to be a girl. Most of all I don’t understand the thought of no defined gender role were we can’t even use the terms ‘he’ or ‘she’.

And one day, there maybe equal Maternity rights so fathers have an equal opportunity to stay at home with their children and women can finally be equal in the work place. I’m lucky enough to work for a company where gender has never been an issue and I have been given the same opportunities as the men. One day I hope this will be the no…

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Last week amongst the news of volcanic ash clouds bringing the country to a standstill I decided to join in with some of the fun on Twitter.

So for a joke I ‘Photoshop-ed’ a quick picture:

…with the line Ash starting to appear over Leeds

It was retweeted a few times. A retweet is when a Twitter user ‘re-broadcasts’ your message to their followers – thus broadening the audience.

In a few minutes the image had been viewed over 100 times.

Then it was retweeted by Suzi Perry from Channel Five’s Gadget Show. Suzi has over 40,000 followers – suddenly my image is being viewed (and retweeted) by thousands.

Then Paul Daniels retweeted Suzi’s retweet to his 25,000 followers. By the end of the day the image had been viewed nearly 10,000 times.

At the latest count we’re on over 14,000 vie…

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