DESIGNERS in Dorset have been coming up with alternative Olympic logos following widespread criticism of the official brand.

The London Olympic Games logo took the best part of a year to design and cost £400,000 but we have been offered some alternatives produced at fraction of the expense.

Julian Slade, a graphic designer from Dorchester, said he was baffled' when he first saw the logo and has come up with his own designs to capture the youth look' that he believes the Olympic team are striving for.

He said of the official logo: "On reflection I'd say the inspiration for it has come from doodles on school workbooks and the murals' we see on the walls pulling into Waterloo Station, the aim being to appeal to the teen market - the sports stars of 2012.

"Unfortunately, the design seems to have alienated most Brits over the age of 15 - oops!"

Mr Slade added that, while he was all for promoting the talents of local designers, in practice they lacked the resources to take the Olympic brand to an international market.

"Having said that, I bet just about every designer in the country, including me, has had a doodle to see what ideas they could come up with.

"Also, it's great to see lots of people, especially young designers of the future, trying their hand at coming up with a logo."

Daniel Elkins, 32, knocked up his alternative logos for the games in a matter of minutes on his home computer.

Mr Elkins, of Ripcroft, Portland, said: "I'm afraid they only took about half an hour as I'm a stay at home father and that's all the time I get to myself during the day, I certainly don't get a whole year to play with my ideas.

"I'm also sure my computer didn't use £400,000 worth of electricity."

A petition objecting to the original design attracted 48,615 votes in two days before it closed after it became apparent organisers would be sticking to their guns.

The petition's anonymous creator wrote: "I have decided to close the petition as it becomes clear that the logo is here to stay.

"There is little point in damaging the reputation of our Olympic Games, that was never the intention.

"The protest has been effectively made."

A petition on the same website, GoPetition.com, to keep the logo as it is has so far received just 124 endorsements.