After a year in progress, the logo for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games was unveiled by Committee Chair Lord Sebastian Coe and his ambassadors at the Roundhouse in Camden, North London this past Monday.

Designed by Wolff Ollins, who also designed the logo for the 2004 Athens games, this is the first time that the same brand will be used for both games. With an apparent price tag of £400,000, I can only surmise that the branding was so exorbitantly expensive that the organizers could only afford to create one brand for both games. In their defense, I can understand how the integration of both games does help the intention of the branding. I can also see how the branding itself contributed to costs having increased by 40 percent in the 18 months since the bid was won.

Based on the number 2012, the emblem comes in a series of pink, blue, green, and orange, and was designed with the intentions of inspiring everyone, while reaching out and engaging young people around the world. According to abdicating Prime Minister, Tony Blair, “When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life.” The message to be conveyed – London 2012 will be “Everyone’s Games.”

In this same spirit, you too can make an artistic contribution to the games. Download the design templates, do something creative with them and upload the results to the online gallery.

But is it really everyone’s games? With such a strong push from those who rightly should be advocating the success of the brand’s launch, there has been an exorbitant barrage of negative opinion from the general public. An online petition to change the logo has already garnered roughly 50,000 signatures.

What do you think?