Athletics logo inspired by city’s famous junction
BIRMINGHAM’S iconic Spaghetti Junction has inspired a striking new logo for next year’s World Indoor Athletic Championships in the city.
The world famous and complex motorway junction has been recreated as a series of colourful ribbons wrapping around each other.
The logo, which was created by Birmingham City Council’s corporate design team, will feature in posters, social media and website branding for the championships which are being held at the Barclaycard Arena in March 2018.
It is designed to reflect the many twists and turns athletes take on their journey to sporting success.
Junction six was christened ‘Spaghetti Junction’ by a Birmingham Evening Mail headline writer when the designs were first unveiled in the late 1960s – and the name stuck.
The logo, known as a supergraphic, is accompanied by another image showing a high jumper in front of the Rotunda, Selfridges and the Library of Birmingham.
Council deputy leader Ian Ward, who chairs the local steering group for the championships, said: “We want to use the opportunity of staging these championships to showcase the city and celebrate some of Birmingham’s iconic buildings and structures.
“Historically ‘supergraphics’ have featured city landmarks or emblems, often highlighting historical, cultural or industrial aspects of the host city.
“We know that Spaghetti Junction can split opinions but it is synonymous with Birmingham, connecting both its residents and visitors to the heart of the UK and we’re proud to be represented by such an incredible feat of engineering.”
The graphic will become very familiar to city residents and athletics fans over the next 12 months, as the city gears up to hosting another global sporting event.
The IAAF World Indoor Championships, in which athletes from 150 nations are expected to compete, are at the Barclaycard Arena from March 2-4, 2018.
Birmingham last hosted the event in 2003.