Here’s another interesting article (with some good comments on the bottom of the page) about a poll that was taken of “British Columbians” to measure peoples reaction to new Olympics emblem. I’ve emailed the author to see if we can take a look at the poll too. Interesting that the results are not dissimilar from the results of our poll on the new 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics logo, Ilanaaq.

Olympic logo failing to win friends in B.C.

Half of those polled like Ilanaaq, but two in five dislike it

A poll shows that just under half of British Columbians want to befriend Ilanaaq, the 2010 Olympics logo.

“It shows that a lot of the negative discussion about the logo has had an impact,” said Evi Mustel, of Mustel Group Market Research.

When the logo was revealed with much fanfare on April 23, it immediately drew criticism for what many felt was a simplistic design.

A member of the Squamish First Nation labelled it an act of aggression because the stylized Inukshuk is a symbol of the Inuit, an aboriginal people foreign to B.C.

UPDATED: After a little back and forth with David, I was able to track down some additional information about the poll that was conducted. Here’s some of the results.

I’m still trying to figure out how many people were sampled. What they were asked? etc. It would be insightful to get a look at the research report done by Evi Mustel.

Here’s a interesting tidbit I came across today in the Richmond News while looking for news headlines about Ilanaaq and the 2010 Winter Olympics…

“Tour operator had Inukshuk first

By Michelle Hopkins

Rarely does a day go by for Richmond-based Living Earth Eco-Tours operator Isaac Ergas that someone doesn’t comment on his corporate logo.

You see, his logo bears an uncanny resemblance to the Inukshuk symbol adopted by the 2010 Olympics. It’s got to the point that Ergas has put stickers on his four company vehicles indicating he’s been in business since 2000. Ergas hopes the coincidence works in his favour.

“I’m getting kind of free advertising,” he quipped.

The company’s focus is on the needs of Spanish-speaking tourists visiting Western Canada. Ergas, who hails from Mexico, supplies tours, transportation, airline and hotel reservations and more.”

I’d love to get a chance to meet Isaac and take pictures of the stickers they put on their vehicles. I find it hard to believe that on top of all the other controversy surrounding this design, that no one ran a logo search to try and see if there was already something similar in existence. I can recommend a couple legal firms that can offer this service.

The Lies Behind Canada’s 2010 Olympic Symbol

Ironic that this article is from a site called “Fishing For Facts” considering it seemingly contains few…

“Did the Canadian government ask the Inuit if they could design an image symbolic of Inuit for commercial Olympic media blitz use? Or did they go ahead on their own and are now sucking up to them by pretending to care, just so they will not make a fuss about being used.”

Not exactly, but VANOC struck a deal with them. In fact the Inuit chief and the Premier of Nunavit were at the press conference.

I doubt you’ll make it to the end, but an interesting read.

The Lies Behind The New Canadian Olympic Symbol

By Arlene Longson

April 26/2005

The Canadian government’s sudden request that Inuit people stick to tradition is well-timed with the unveiling of Canada’s Olympic emblem, designed to show the world that Inuit tradition relies on white men killing millions of Seals. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the population of 27,000 Inuit people are chartering planes to fly in soft drinks and have been drinking 20,000 litres of the stuff, per day, for eons. Inuit houses continue to fall into the sea due to global warming, and nothing tangible has, nor will be done, to stop it. But the Canadian government doesn’t want you to know about that. However, there is one big line of bull that the Canada’s Prime Minister wants the world to swallow!

The 2010 Canadian Olympic symbol which was unveiled April 25th 2005 arrived interestingly on the same day that 1,700 infant Harp Seals washed up on the shores of Newfoundland (collateral damage) only days after the largest mass killing of marine mammals in the history of the world. The unveiling also arrived on the same day as the Canadian government formally asked Inuit people to give up on white mans’ food and treats — and asked them to regress back to a more traditional way of eating, effectively asking the Inuit to freeze-in-time while the rest of Canadian society steps up its modernization and technological advancement. Why?

This would be the first time the government has actually asked any group of people to “go-primitive” as part of a government strategy to elicit global endearment of the Inuit people. They want to feed an illusion of Inuit as the same old tribe they have always been. To show a falsehood, that Inuit need to hunt Seals, and that in some twisted way the murdering of a million – and counting – Harp Seals in Canada should be acceptable to the world..because Inuit “used to hunt Seals”

For the Canadian government to continue getting away with killing Seals it needs to convince the world that the Inuit way of life would be in danger if the Seal Hunt was halted, and that in order to preserve an important Inuit tradition — the world should accept this horrific barbarism.. for the Inuit’s sake!

Somehow we are supposed to connect the Inuit to the commercial seal slaughter. Yet the two have nothing to do with each other. The Inuit do not kill a million Seals over 3 years. No, they don’t! This is committed by the commercial-fishing white men and the government fat-cats. They are the ones who are killing seals, in numbers so obscene that it is difficult to comprehend.

Do the Inuit people really believe this comes out of concern for their welfare? This quiet reclusive population of people who has so little access to media and has very little idea what ‘media-spin’ is.. could they even have a clue as to how horribly they are being lied about to the world? And, do any of us believe that a government who has relied so heavily upon a massive lie about Inuit people and Harp Seals to the world, really cares about the effects of coca-cola on Inuit tooth decay? I wonder why the Canadian government doesn’t worry about the rest of the kids in the country who are drinking just as much pop as the Inuit? Why aren’t they conducting a broader campaign to end soft drink abuse? Howcome they’re only worried about the Inuit all of a sudden? Of course they should worry…..but…..why are they?

Do we really believe that suddenly the Canadian government would spend all that money launching a campaign to get Inuit people to stop chartering planes to bring in soda pop because they care about the preservation of Inuit teeth and (Eskimo) tradition? It is more likely that there is a more sinister reason behind the concern. The Canadian government wants to present a certain image to the boycotting world. They want to fabricate an illusion of the Inuit people in an effort to thwart the boycott…. to make people feel sorry for the Newfoundland Sealers by enlisting your fondness of the Inuit!

If the Canadian government feels that the Inuit are like children and need to be spoon-fed on how to take care of their teeth and directed not to drink soda pop, we have to wonder, what else are they spoon-feeding the Inuit? Clearly, the Canadian government views them as children!

We don’t hear the Inuit people making PR statements. We don’t hear them countering claims, or arguing with what the government says! Why not? Is it because the Inuit agree with the government? The answer actually lies in the fact that they are a remote population of people who do not have the kind of access to the outside world as most of us do. They are not media mongers. They take most everything at face value. If you tell them something, they trust that you are telling the truth. It’s as simple as that. So, the lack of Inuit response to whatever Canada’s government says to them, is here nor there.

But, occasionally the government is lucky and sneaky enough to be able to con one, maybe even two Inuit people into speaking on behalf of the governement slaughter. But, just like in the case of the Burrard native band which was found to be ilegally killing Eagles in large numbers for the black market foot-and-feather trade, there is one or two black sheep in every family. While elders wept over the bodies of dozens of Bald Eagles, somewhere out there was a young native brave going against his own tribe, embarrassing the elders.

What we are seeing here is the careful government sculpting of a well choreographed lie. this is part and parcel of the lie that will soon be fed to the rest of the world…the world that is now boycotting Canadian seafood products, and yes, the 2010 Canadian Olympics.

When Canadians were asked if they saw any relevance between the newly unveiled Canadian Olympic Emblem and Canadian culture, most people scratched their heads and said they couldn’t see any connection, no relevance between the symbol and Canadian culture. Many were downright confused. “It looks like a highway bathroom rest-stop stick-man symbol..the kind you find on the door of the potty!”

“It’s a disgrace and has no meaning for Canada whatsoever. ..just like the Inuit have nothing to do with the seal massacre. This is yet one more embarrassment for Canada. One more bad decision, in a long stream of many!”

Did the Canadian government ask the Inuit if they could design an image symbolic of Inuit for commercial Olympic media blitz use? Or did they go ahead on their own and are now sucking up to them by pretending to care, just so they will not make a fuss about being used.

In any case this is a well orchestrated lie to show an alliance between the beloved Inuit people, the crooked government, and Seal killers… as if they want to be viewed as one and the same.. to promote an illusion to the world, that the Inuit people rely on the white-man’s slaughter of seals for their livelihoods. Yet, in 25 years not one single Inuit has ever been spotted on the ice killing a seal.

[Ilanaaq on BlogPulse]

Here’s an article about Ilanaaq from yesterday’s Vancouver Courier. This author has more passion about the topic than facts apparently. The piece is written like there is one designer not two, not even mentioning Gonzalo Alatorre. Secondly, if they would have talked to either of the designers they would have learned that neither of them knew about the Expo sculpture in question (were either of them even in Canada 20 years ago? I don’t know personally?). In fact, a reporter at the press conference stood up and asked a question about whether or not this was an influencing factor in the design and was told no. Maybe the writers from the Courier weren’t invited or couldn’t make it. Hopefully coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics will improve as the games approach!

Ilanaaq’s Inspiration Gets Diddly Squat

A Mexican-Canadian woman’s stylized version of an Inuit artist’s traditional stone sculpture left over from Expo 86 is the emblem for the Winter Olympics in a city where winter is sometimes unofficially cancelled.

Elena Rivera MacGregor’s rendition of the inukshuk is now Vancouver’s face for the world. First Nations bigwigs don’t like it, because it doesn’t represent B.C. There are no Inuit tribes here, even in that far northwest corner that borders Alaska and the Yukon. You’ll have to go much further north than that. Perhaps take a drive on the Dempster Highway from Dawson City to Inuvik where you’ll see inukshuks that are more than decoration in the wilderness, pointing to safety.

The Vancouver organizing committee’s major blunder was in neglecting to recognize the artist who put the stones together almost 20 years ago for Vancouver’s inukshuk.

You won’t find Alvin Kanak’s name on VANOC’s publicity bumph. You will find it on the plaque at the base of the inukshuk near where English Bay and False Creek meet. Kanak’s creation originally stood at the Northwest Territories pavilion, which, by coincidence, once stood near where the Olympic athletes’ village will rise at False Creek.

Kanak is in his 60s and lives in Rankin Inlet, which was part of the Northwest Territories until the federal government created Nunavut. Nunavut’s premier was at GM Place along with the leader of Canada’s Inuit peoples, but Kanak was not invited.

Kanak, who speaks little English, was unavailable to talk. His daughter said he’s a shy man of few words.

“When someone went over to Vancouver, they showed me (a photo of) what my father built. I was impressed. My father is not a real big storyteller and he doesn’t talk much. I’m very proud of him.”

The exclusion of Kanak from the hoopla raises a unique question. Rivera MacGregor won $25,000, a pair of tickets to the opening ceremonies and a golden entry on her resume. Kanak gets his name in the newspaper and nothing else.

Perhaps VANOC and Rivera MacGregor are not legally bound to recognize the artist whose work inspired Ilanaaq-and the billions of dollars it will generate. They are at least obligated to give him credit by name.

“I would feel that if I was the artist and inspired by the other artist, I would give them some recognition or a small token of my award,” said Mark Wexler, Simon Fraser University professor of applied ethics. “That is certainly not legally required and artists frequently say inspiration or some degree of copying is a form of flattery. I don’t think this is copying because it obviously stylizes.”

Wexler, however, is of the view that the logo cheapens the meaning of inukshuk by making it look soft, sort of like Pac Man or the Michelin Man.

“The selection committee was clearly not afraid to appropriate a spiritual [icon] or [a wayfinding] function and use it for a purpose to which that culture never thought of using it.”

Kanak’s art is in the public domain, Wexler said. It’s a sad reality, but “offten third or fourth generation copiers get paid more than the first generation artist.”

Art and commerce. Sport and commerce. We’re in for an interesting five years.

Humorous Seattle Times coverage by Ron Judd of the controvery surrounding the 2010 Vancouver Olympics logo as well as any other controversy he can dig up including mascots, Ross’s and more. Here’s an exceprt…

The Best Defense

Members of the expert selection panel responded to criticism in the traditional Olympic way: trashing another Olympic city’s logo by comparison.

Wei Yew, an Edmonton graphic designer who served as a judge and has written a book on Olympic imagery, singled out the logo for the upcoming 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy — a wedge-shaped triangle of what appears to be blue mesh.

“Try and figure out what the hell that is,” Yew told the Canadian Press, whose reporter agreed that the logo appears to be a “slice of blue Swiss cheese.”

Actually, it’s a stylized representation of Turin’s signature landmark, the Mole Antonelliana, a 19th-century city tower that for a time was the world’s tallest structure.

Just Wait: It’ll Get Worse

Based on the Vancouver logo, we can hardly wait for the upcoming release of the official Games mascots.

Prediction: No matter how cheesy they prove to be, they’ll probably look good compared to Neve and Gliz, two animated ice creatures unveiled at a Turin media event featuring two people walking around in furry suits and what appeared to be giant urinal cakes on their heads.

The offspring of a snowball and an ice cube, Turin’s mutant, walking frost blocks are the latest in a long line of truly horrific Olympic mascots, peaking with Phevos and Athena, the unforgettable dancing condoms of Athens.

Second-Hand-Smoke Boy Rides Again

No one should be surprised that, with the 2010 Games looming, Canadian snowboarding/cannabis icon Ross Rebagliati is ready for the big comeback.

Rebagliati, a hero in Canada for his 1998 Nagano feat — becoming the first Olympian ever stripped of a gold medal for testing positive for a performance-impeding substance — told Canadian reporters last week he’s getting back on his board in a comeback bid he hopes will peak with the 2010 Games.

He’s 33 and hasn’t competed since 2000. He would be 37 when the Games come to his hometown of Whistler. But at least he’s up front about his reasons for taking what clearly is a long shot.

“There’s no pension for athletes,” Rebagliati told the Vancouver Sun. “Once we were awarded the Olympics I knew I had to make a comeback. … It’s too perfect. I have to cash in.”

More news from the local newspapers about Ilanaaq’s chilly reception since her unveiling. The squamish nation is using powerful words like “agression” and “attack on our soveriegnty”. Wow. Is this thing going to die down soon? Has there been any official response from VANCOC to all the reaction and negative press?

Squamish chief calls Ilanaaq ‘aggression’

Gerald Johnston says it’s the symbol of a ‘foreign aboriginal nation’

“A Squamish hereditary chief is lashing out at Vancouver’s new Olympic logo as “an intentional act of aggression against our sovereignty.”

But band officials say Gerald Johnston is voicing a personal opinion that doesn’t reflect the views of band elders.

Johnston wrote a letter to B.C. band councils calling on Olympic organizers to “cease and desist” using the Inuit-style logo, which he slammed as a symbol of a “foreign aboriginal nation.”

“It is akin to Russians planting their flag on the Parliament Buildings or the White House without permission,” he said.

He said the choice of logo shows bad faith on behalf of the B.C. government and “constitutes an ongoing assault on aboriginal title.”

Johnston called on 2010 organizers to “remove all vestiges” of the logo from Squamish land, which includes Olympic venues in North Vancouver and Whistler.

Squamish Nation Chief Gibby Jacob, a board member of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC), said Johnston’s opinions don’t reflect those of other Squamish hereditary chiefs.

“Like everybody else here, I’d have loved to see something with a West Coast First Nations design flavour to it,” said Jacob yesterday. “But if it had been, I’m quite sure there’d have been someone else complaining.”

He said there will be other opportunities for First Nations to “put our mark on,” including Olympic medals and cultural events.

VANOC spokeswomen Renee Smith-Valade said 2010 organizers have a close relationship with the Squamish band.

“The fundamental premise of the design competition was to choose a design that reflects all Canada and has a story that is meaningful to all Canadians and not just one aboriginal group or region of the country,” she said.

Grand Chief Edward John of the First Nations Summit said he’s taken native concerns about the logo to B.C. federal ministers Stephen Owen and David Emerson. “It’s really ticked a lot of people off,” he said. “There are other options, whether it’s a secondary trademark or whatever.”

He said he’s written to VANOC but hasn’t received an answer.”

Native leaders object to logo for 2010 Olympics – Some Native leaders in Canada are objecting to the use of a traditional Inuit symbol for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Native leaders in British Columbia say they feel slighted by the choice of a symbol that doesn’t represent the culture of their region. ["2010 Olympics" News on RocketInfo]

If you only read the newspapers and watched the news you may have thought that the 2010 Vancouver Olympics logo was developed solely by Elena Rivera MacGregor, owner and principle of Rivera Design Group who was mentioned several times as the logo’s designer in mainstream coverage of the launch. Today, I had a chance to talk with Gonzalo Alatorre currently of Evolutionary Images and Advertising about his role in the process of developing Ilanaaq, the emblem for the upcoming 2010 Olympic.

Official documents listed Alatorre as the designer, who was an employee of Rivera Design Group at the time of the logo’s development. However, in the days since Imagine 2010 and the logo launch most media outlets have focused their attention on Rivera MacGregor. In fact I’ve seen several whole articles that don’t even mention Alatore’s name. I called Alatorre today to find out what his role in the project was and how he felt about the media’s focus on Elena Rivera as the creator of the emblem.

Gonzalo told me that the concept for the emblem was ‘independently developed’ by both Alatorre and Rivera simultaneously. Alatorre started with some mockups that he ran by Elena who was working with him on the project in the role of Project Manager and Creative Director. Alatorre’s idea was to create an identity that was representative of his experience as an immigrant to Canada with a specific focus on the first few years as he was learning the culture and people. He used the words warm and welcoming to describe the people and attempted to capture that spirit in his work.

He reviewed the designs with Rivera and she said that in principal they synced up with some thoughts she had been working on too and wanted to see if he could work some Haida elements and style into the concepts. Alatorre recalled that specific references to tribes and cultures such as the Haida were prohibited for some reason by the rules of the VANOC emblem design contest and after exploring design in that direction decided not to go that route.

�?The media focus on Elena as the designer caught me by surprise. I was not very pleased that the media seemed to be ignoring my name. Especially in the first 3 days after Imagine 2010. But I’ve talked (with her) about it and she’s assured me she’s mentioning my name whenever she has conversations about the design and the process. It’s difficult to control the way the media and press tell a story and I was definitely a little surprised. But I get proper credit because I get to put the work in my portfolio and at the end of the day the people who matter know that I did it. It has become a bit of negative experience since the launch, but the process of developing the logo and having a shot at designing the Olympic logo and winning makes it a good experience and worth it.�?

UPDATED: I just got a call from Gonzalo who saw this article today and got in touch to with me to say thanks and to let me know I got one thing wrong. It wasn’t the VANOC rules that prevented the the integration of Haida influence and style into Alatorre’s original concepts, but instead tribal rules that prohibit those who are not of Haida ancestry from working with the sacred Haida designs and symbols. Thanks Gonzalo for the correction, it’s been great talking to you and getting to know you through the process of pulling this together, and I wish you the best!