London & Partners - The Fools!

London & Partners - The Fools!

London & Partners is a new agency with an aim, according to Boris Johnson, "to showcase London as the best city to visit, invest and study in." The agency is an amalgamation of previously separate promotional bodies (Visit London, Think London and Study London); a supposed pooling of knowledge and expertise that will promote London to an international audience through a co-ordinated strategy in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. Sounds impressive. Sounds aspirational. But, sadly, it looks like this.

The logo is yet another visual identity for the capital, but crucially, it fails to capture the essence of the city, and as a result fails to create an emotional connection with its target audience. We’re all for simplicity in design, but this is not simplicity done well.

The agency and identity were launched on April 1st, and unsurprisingly, people immediately leapt to the conclusion that it was an April fool. Not a good start for an agency engaged to make the world take London more seriously... whoopsie daisy!