The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the official logo design of the Madrid 2016 Summer Olympics bid. Spain’s capital aspires to bring back the Olympic spirit once experienced by Barcelona during the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Unlike that hideous London 2012 Olympic logo, officials of Madrid 2016 Foundation opted not to hire a professional branding firm and relied on the creativity of the general public through a logo design contest. From more than 2,000 logo designs, the foundation selected the top 10 designs with some help from a group of design experts.

The second stage of logo selection process is a voting of the general public. Displaying the 10 logos in several exhibition points, more than 113,000 voted through balloting points. In the end, the logo design dubbed as “Corle” was declared the runaway winner with 32% vote. Some changes were made together with some design experts to make it more appealing.

If you’re wondering what this bright and lively open hand represents, the author said, “The unity of the different cultures, people and nationalities that live together in Madrid.”

The bids of London for the 2012 Olympics and Russia for 2014 Winter Olympics might put Madrid at a disadvantage in this Olympic bidding for it is very rare that successive Olympic Games are held on the same continent.

Other applicant cities include Doha (Qatar), Chicago (US), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Prague (Czech Rep), and Baku (Azerbaijan). The winner will be announced in October 2009.

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