International branding expert Futurebrand has been responsible for the branding and design solutions implemented by the London Organising Committee during the Olympic Games this year. The agency was appointed to the role by LOCOG back in May 2009.

Delivering on the commitment, Futurebrand has developed a number of ‘Olympic’ design projects. On the whole, the agency is said to create about 250, 000 individual designs for the 2012 Games in London.

In its concept of the retail space, as in all other Olympic-themed projects, the much-critised visual identity by Wolff Olins, created back in 2007, was used. Creating the Olympic shops design, Futurebrand tried to balance ‘an on-brand memorable London 2012 experience for the visitor and an efficient and commercially viable retail space’, using pictograms, created by Someone, along with images of London landmarks.

The same retail concept was implemented in all 29 traditional John Lewis department stores across the country as well as in the flagship store on the Olympic Park.

Olympic tickets also feature the Someone-designed pictograms and the dual color scheme.

Photo: by Nick Morrish/British Airways

FutureBrand also designed the livery of British Airways flight BA2012, The Firefly which collected the Olympic flame from Athens and brought it back to the UK.

Photo: by Dave Tully/Olympic Delivery Authority

The agency developed the visual system and colour strategy, from the seating bowl designs to the patterning on the concourse.

They designed the livery of the Olympic and Paralympic vehicle fleet for over 4000 vehicles, provided by the official partner BMW.

Finally, the Olympic wines, which went on sale in Olympic shops last week, feature labels also created by Futurebrand «Olympic» team. These are three cuvees: Rosé, Chenin Blanc and Shiraz Tempranillo, distributed by a wine trading company Bibendum.