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The Look of the Games


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When Vancouver's look has already been criticised as "too busy", this one goes far beyond it. Especially these pictures make me almost dizzy when I look at them:

Uzo.jpg

It's not a bad idea, but it's far too much.

The advantage of this look is definitely that it makes the actually dull logo make look elegant and refreshingly simple when standing next to the quilt pattern.

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I rather like it. It is busy, but in a different way than Vancouver's was busy. You see the overall colour scheme of purple, blue, orange, etc. where as Vancouver's mingled the blue and green together. I'm glad they aren't using the ice triangles. But still, as raised earlier, why so early for a public unveil? Three years is a long time away. Vancouver didn't unveil their final look until a few months after the Beijing Games, with just little over a year to go. I could see just a simple use of this on pre-Games merch and materials, even if it does look a bit like a Argyle or Harlequin pattern.

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I respectfully disagree. Vancouver's, for me, was already too busy with all those curlicues and tentacles and little things thrown in. And the blue-&-green theme were DULL and boring for me for a Winter Games.

I still think Salt Lake's has been the best so far..in theme...in color palette...in simple, bold geometric patterns.

vancouver is the best.the color is freash green and blue..was so suite..its look very winter..ant the wave and curvy shape is very adorable..vancouver has the best look,followed by athens,torino,london,sal lake and sydney

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When was the first proper "look of the games"? LA I seem to remember. Munich sort of had one? I don't remember Korea's from 88 at all? And did Barcelona have one? Also did Nagano have a memorable one?

Check out this site: OlympicDesign.com

It's a gold mine for anything Olympic graphics and design related.

I seem to remember reading once that Mexico '68 was the first to institute an integrated "look". But according to the OlympicDesign site, there were guidelines for graphics right back to Tokyo and Rome as well (or at least there were design manuals for those).

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The first Olympic Games edition which had colourful and labelled pitchside banners was LA 1984. But Mexico 1968 were the first which had at least a bit of decoration on some of its pitchside banners, namely the peace dove:

2901892841_437aaaaaf4_m.jpg

In terms of a "look of the Games" (without pitchside banners), Munich had a very iconic one designed by German designer Otl Aicher. Here's a video about it. It's in German, but I guess the pictures speak for themselves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvpUMx2ZY5w&feature=player_embedded#at=76

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The first Olympic Games edition which had colourful and labelled pitchside banners was LA 1984. But Mexico 1968 were the first which had at least a bit of decoration on some of its pitchside banners, namely the peace dove:

2901892841_437aaaaaf4_m.jpg

That Mexican "Dove of Peace" design oddly enough, also appeared on the 1968 torch -- the only one so far to have 3 variations in design. (Also, strangely enuf, I am doing "Cucurrucucu, Paloma" in my next cabaret show - May 22nd.)

This "Look" thing, I would even venture to say that it was Berlin 1936 which really tried to have a purposeful and unified look -- with the Swastika as the main logo of those Games...not the Brandenburg Gate as displayed in the "official" poster. Just look at all the fotos of how they dressed Berlin up for that summer.

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The website says that the term ''Look of the games'' was first introduced in Barcelona (btw, thanks for the awesome link Rols), I haven't seen any image of the look of 1992 but i remember it was a very simple look as well, mostly a combination of blue tones, sometimes reflecting the landscape of the city of Barcelona, and with white and/or gold text.

Also it seems it featured a ''mosaic'' pattern at times, probably based on Antonio Gaudi art (as seen on the following image), but it was used mostly in banners, since i don't remember seeing this mosaic detail inside the venues.

material92.jpg

12Display.jpg

For me, Torino 2006 and Athens 2004 are the best ''look of the games'' but that depends of everyone tastes.

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The website says that the term ''Look of the games'' was first introduced in Barcelona (btw, thanks for the awesome link Rols), I haven't seen any image of the look of 1992 but i remember it was a very simple look as well, mostly a combination of blue tones, sometimes reflecting the landscape of the city of Barcelona, and with white and/or gold text.

But that's just the terminology and post-war Org Committees may have documented their efforts better. But if you will really assess which host city & Org Committee FIRST went all out to brand their city a unique and emphatic way whereby if only you were blind would you miss the message, then it would still be BERLIN 1936.

Think about it. The few pictures from Garmisch 1936 which happened in Feb of that year, the Nazi trappings were NOT out in full force yet. As the regime solidified their hold on Germany and realized what a big PR coup the Summer Games would be for them, then they went all out to announce to the world that the bigger Summer Games were held under the aegis of the Nazi party. There was NO mistaking that...to the lasting grief of the IOC.

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As the regime solidified their hold on Germany and realized what a big PR coup the Summer Games would be for them, then they went all out to announce to the world that the bigger Summer Games were held under the aegis of the Nazi party. There was NO mistaking that...to the lasting grief of the IOC.

...and Bryan Ferry

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I remember someone started a thread ages ago about an exhibition on Mexico 68's "look". Just found it now: The Look of the 1968 Olympics

Some interesting pics there of the applications of Mexico's design. Only the links were posted, but here's the images:

%2768-InformationKiosk.jpg%2768-PeacePendant.jpg

%2768-GuideHat.jpg%2768-GuideDress.jpg

Guide Hat & dress

%2768-SouvenirDresses.jpg%2768-CyclingDress.jpg

Souvenir dresses

I like how it all looks so 60's.

Also like the pictograms. One thing I picked up on the Olympic design site was that there were some pretty cool and more freeform sports pictograms before 1972, when the Munich pictograms seem to have taken over for a while.

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But that's just the terminology and post-war Org Committees may have documented their efforts better. But if you will really assess which host city & Org Committee FIRST went all out to brand their city a unique and emphatic way whereby if only you were blind would you miss the message, then it would still be BERLIN 1936.

Think about it. The few pictures from Garmisch 1936 which happened in Feb of that year, the Nazi trappings were NOT out in full force yet. As the regime solidified their hold on Germany and realized what a big PR coup the Summer Games would be for them, then they went all out to announce to the world that the bigger Summer Games were held under the aegis of the Nazi party. There was NO mistaking that...to the lasting grief of the IOC.

I sorta get your idea, M, but to me the Berlin bunting and banners weren't so much an Olympic-specific "look", but

a general Third Reich branding. Maybe a bit more ubiquitous when you look at pics of Berlin 36, but no real games-specific design elements that weren't already plastered for years at, say, the Nuremburg rallies.

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I sorta get your idea, M, but to me the Berlin bunting and banners weren't so much an Olympic-specific "look", but

a general Third Reich branding. Maybe a bit more ubiquitous when you look at pics of Berlin 36, but no real games-specific design elements that weren't already plastered for years at, say, the Nuremburg rallies.

I don't think Goebbels & his team had other intentions to create new, non-political visual motifs for those Games other than the Swastika banners. What I'm saying is, regardless of the moral merits of the buntings and the omnipresent swastika, the Nazis bathed Berlin in this look. It was purposely timed and if one had been there at the time, it was communicated NOT VERY SUBTLY to one that these were "the National Socialist Olympics." A hijacked Games, but the Nazis had the IOC in a vise and there was nothing the weak old aristocrats of the day could do but grin and bear it.

If Tokyo/Sapporo 1940 happened, I wonder how jingoistic and imperialistic those Games would've been.

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Actually the book titled The Olympic Image by Wei Yew (published by Quon Editions in 1996), does have a photograph of pictograms that were used in 1936. The caption states that it was probably the first well-designed set of graphics used at the Olympics.

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Actually the book titled The Olympic Image by Wei Yew (published by Quon Editions in 1996), does have a photograph of pictograms that were used in 1936. The caption states that it was probably the first well-designed set of graphics used at the Olympics.

olympicdesign.com lists those 1936 pictograms as well: http://www.theolympicdesign.com/deu/olympic-collection/graphics/pictograms/

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olympicdesign.com lists those 1936 pictograms as well: http://www.theolympicdesign.com/deu/olympic-collection/graphics/pictograms/

Yeah, I saw those. And I really liked some of what they showed. Of course, the only problem is ther site only shows the hockey (ice and field pictograms). I'd love to see a full set of Berlin pictograms. And the example for Rome looks intriguing too.

As I mentioned before, there seem to have been some good pictogram dsigns between 1936 and 1968, then between they were all a bit ho-hum, much the same. Glad we're getting some creative pictograms again (even if Munich's used to fascinate me, and helped stoke my Olympic interest, when I was a young 'un).

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Look at NBC's sports pictograms on this page -- ahead of London unveiling the official ones.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/#domnina+shabalin+lead+after+compulsories

These look pretty classy.

As I said in the other thread you started, these are the official London ones. And looking back at the launch thread from a year or so ago, 'pretty classy' wasn't your opinion when they were revealed. Good to know you like them now though ;)

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Now that i see them, the pictograms remind me a bit of Atlanta. And i like them more than the sperm things from Beijing. Despite the horrible logo i like the rest of the look of London, they've done a good work with it, even when there are still various elements we havent seen yet.

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