Utah's new 2034 Olympic logo has received mixed reviews, but the local designer is defending his bold choice.

Salt Lake City

The logo for Utah's 2034 Olympic Games has been introduced, drawing a range of responses from the public and design community. Ben Hermel, who helped design the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic logo, commented on the process, noting the influence of multiple stakeholders and the importance of creating a distinctive identity.

Hermel, though not involved in the 2034 design, believes the new logo's provocative and unique approach was intentional and expects it to remain unchanged despite some negative feedback. He also reflected on the enduring popularity of the 2002 logo, which continues to be celebrated in Utah through memorabilia and public displays.

Utah's new 2034 Olympic logo receives mixed reviews

So fun to, uh, to revive those old memories. Ben Hermel is a graphic designer, and long before the torch was lit for Salt Lake 2002, back in 1997, he was on the team tasked with designing the logo for the games. That was, you know, fantastic for me as sort of a young designer at the time, was just to see how many people had an opinion and were involved, and, you know, everything from the IOC, wanna make sure that what's created aligns really closely with, you know, their perception of the games and how that's going to be, and then you've got the Salt Lake Olympic Committee that want to create something sort of unique and different. Speaking of unique and different. There it is. Congratulations, everyone. Those are two words that can describe the new logo for Utah 2034. So what are your thoughts on the logo that just came out for 2034? I personally love it. I think that I sort of strive for a reaction when it comes to creating work, and I think that that's what happened. Hermel was not involved in creating the 2034 logo, but based off his experience, he believes the design team did their best to respond to a brief, asking to incorporate specific qualities. My assumption is that brief was to be a little bit more provocative, a little bit newer, a little bit more unique, and they would have responded to that, and of course, when you do that, you're going to alienate some people and get some negative responses. So will that negative response lead to a new logo? It's not a process. You can take three more than one. It's not something that would be taken on lightly. So I'd imagine it's the one that we'll be seeing out there for the next few years. And possibly the next several decades. These little pieces of 2002 still dot Utah's landscape. Does that make you feel good to know that that logo, that design is so well-loved here now 23, 24 years later? Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's a massive growth. Definitely a highlight of my career. Well, before I end the call, I have to show you some of the things that we have here, because I collect the 2002 stuff. So there's the paperweight, and then I have over here the logo on a bobblehead, which is really cool. Nice, that's awesome. One of my favorites, I have the whole fleece blanket. Oh, nice. Oh, that's interesting. That's also fun to see.

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