At the end of last year I was invited to have a go at designing a proposal for a new logo for ‘We Play’ – a programme of arts events that forms the North West 2012 Cultural Olympiad. The events will span the five North West counties (Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria and Greater Manchester), and will take place over four years in the lead up to the games.

I worked with another designer, Neringa Plange, to draw up a range of approaches, and it took us on a journey, working out what exactly was meant by ‘We Play’, and what it was we were trying to develop.We went round the houses with loads of ideas, and in the end came back to one of the earliest we had: the asterisk – realising how flexible it was, both in terms of form and meaning (and how simple it was compared to the 2012 logo). The people at the Cultural Olympiad got where we were coming from and the logo will make its official debut at the launch of the We Play programme on March 24th at Manchester Velodrome. Keep a look out for it.