Germany is known for its world-class engineering and design capabilities, but according to a number of design experts, the various logos and mascots associated with the World Cup in Germany are just plain embarrassing. For example, can anyone really figure out “Mr. No Pants”, the lion-like football mascot? Presentation Zen highlights the viewpoints of German design expert Erik Spiekermann, who was recently interviewed about what went wrong at the World Cup:

“Given Germany’s history and love of great design, including graphic design, you would think the design for the 2006 World Cup would be remarkable. But is it? At least one German design expert, Erik Spiekermann, thinks otherwise. Spiekermann is one of Germany’s most famous designers and typographers and is the founder of MetaDesign, a firm whose clients include such notable brands as Apple, Audi, VW, and Nike. In an interview with Deutche World, Spiekerman says that the whole design concept for the 06 World Cup — including the Mascot and the logo — look to be the result of too many cooks in the design kitchen, a mediocrity resulting from “design by committee.”

Take, for example, the official World Cup logo. According to Spiekerman, the logo is a mess of conflicting ideas: “Too many messages…You can look at this and count the elements and it just flies in the face of effective communication…” Goleo, the German football mascot who wanders around without a pair of trousers (see above) is also, well, a bit disturbing:

“Commenting on Goleo, the official lion-like mascot of the World Cup in Germany (who curiously wears a shirt but enjoys parading around sans trousers) Spiekerman says, “This artificial lion is neither cute nor ugly nor relevant; it’s just embarrassing.” Now, I’m all for presenting naked, and for the naked truth and all that. But in public presentations, wearing pants is still highly recommended. Goleo appears to be a flop; no body loves him and the company which licensed the European rights to the pantsless mascot filed for insolvency.”

That being said, we’re still looking forward to the quarterfinal match between Germany and Argentina as a great kick-off to the July 4th weekend. Bad design doesn’t have to mean bad football.

Tags: WorldCup design

[images: Presentation Zen]

The news that Kraft hired a new CEO yesterday had a lot of tongues wagging about the role of innovation at the company. In fact, the Wall Street Journal led off with an attention-grabbing headline: “Kraft, hungry for innovation, taps new CEO.” The basic premise is that the incoming CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, is someone who will be able to spot new trends and come up with hot-selling new products: “Analysts say her task will be to launch innovative products that appeal to consumers who have tired of the mass-market offerings Kraft has relied on for decades, such as American cheese Singles, Oscar Mayer hot dogs and Oreo cookies.” As part of this innovation push, Kraft has also launched an open innovation strategy, in which the company is actively soliciting ideas from consumers about how to package and sell new products.

Tags: IreneRosenfeld Kraft CEO

Swedish innovation firm Idelaboratoriet is in the process of creating a European “innovation awareness project” called Innovation Circus. This touring innovation event will make stops in Scandinavia, the Baltics, the central region of Europe (i.e. Germany), and the southern region of Europe (i.e. Italy). The goal of the Innovation Circus is to serve as a dynamic focal point for European Innovation Day. As it travels throughout Europe, the circus will motivate, drive and coordinate events “to make everyone think innovation.”

According to Idelaboratoriet, the Innovation Circus will have three different operational levels:

(1) A full-day conference held on European Innovation Day, intended as a way to foster discussion about the drivers of the “innovative human”;

(2) A mobile exhibition and event platform that will “land” in a region or city a month or so before the kick-off of European Innovation Day;

(3) Grass root events coordinated via the Web, where schools, companies and institutions present innovation-related activities.

Anyway, the Innovation Circus is part of a master plan by the European Union to create “the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth” by 2010. As a result, the EU is sponsoring projects like the Innovation Circus that celebrate the “innovative human,” the “creative mastermind,” and the “Renaissance human being.” I’m still having a bit of trouble visualizing all the specifics, but it seems like the U.S. doesn’t have anything even close to this…

Tags: innovation innovation circus

[image: “Cirque Du Soleil,” BBC]