You know that logo with the 5 rings connected together? The blue, yellow, black, green, and red? Yes, the Olympic logo. Who doesn’t know that logo? It is one of the most recognizable logos, in my opinion. While at a 3rd birthday party for Chuck’s niece on Saturday, the older crowd was watching the US Women’s National Soccer Team beat Columbia while the children were jumping on the moon-bounce outside (yes, there was parental supervision). Watching the game, it sparked a conversation about the logo of the Olympics. I learned that the 5 rings represented the 5 flags of the parts of the world that were initially involved in the modern Olympic Games. I also learned that the 5-ring symbol was implemented in 1914 (however suspended due to WW1), but debuted in 1920 and has been used ever since (thank you, Wikipedia). While the Olympics have been taken place for hundreds of centuries, the identities and campaigns that were established through the years have changed to reflect the culture of the host nation. Let’s take a look back.
The earlier publications featuring the Olympics (1896-1920) had a more “poster-esque” type quality. There wasn’t a mark or logo associated with the Olympics at that time, and these reflect more of an advertisement approach. I personally love the design style from the early 1900’s. The pre-illustrator/photoshop days.
1924 introduced the first ‘logo’ for the Paris Olympics, and since then there have been varying degrees of success. The 1928 Amsterdam reminds me of the historic German science-fiction film, ‘Metropolis’, which coincidently was made in 1927. I’m not a huge fan of the design, but I think the main reason is because of this; remember when you first learned how to use Adobe Illustrator? And how it was such a “cool” design to layer the same word and make the back word larger, and lighter? Yeah, I’m totally guilty of that design faux-pas. But I think the 1928 logo lacks a sense of depth, and doesn’t tell a story as well as the other logos do. I believe a good logo should consist of two things: a mark and a memorable font. The mark should be able to stand alone, and the text with the memorable font should be able to stand alone, while both should solely emit the essence of the brand. However, if you look at the logos featured between 1924 and 1948, they don’t have the 2-part mark/font structure. Some of the more modern day logos definitely harness that philosophy as opposed to the logos in the earlier days.
I personally like the more modern looking logos that are featured after the 1952 Olympics. I like the boldness of color, the definition of the shapes, and the creativity in the incorporation the Olympic symbol, as compared to the earlier logos presented. I think these logos tell a story, and give a sense of location and culture. While some are better designed than others, the Tokyo logo from the 1964 really sticks out to me for a few reasons. I love the simplicity and it quickly communicates what it’s portraying. Like the Japanese flag, the red ‘rising sun’ is obvious, while the gold rings portray Olympics. I don’t think logos need to be fancy or intricate to make an impact. People recognize basic shapes most easily, therefore the Tokyo one is my favorite amongst this collection. While Tokyo is my favorite, I am a fan of the Munich logo of 1972; I find it unique. To me, it reflects German design so well, and reminds me of the Bauhaus, even though the Bauhaus school ended operation in 1933.
For some reason, the 1984 Olympic logo reminds me of when I was younger, however I wasn’t born until 1987. Anyway, think it demonstrates America very well, obviously with the stars, but I think it gives a sense of forward motion in a unique way; much different than we typically see. I also noticed that the Atlanta logo of ’96 is unique compared to all of the rest of the logos. All the elements are made up in a rectangle and I like how they’re grouped together. The only element I don’t like is the dark color combination of the green and gold, I feel like there could be a little more contrast however that would take away from the torch and flames. Delicate battle. I would have liked to have seen the thought process behind that logo… and if variations were explored without the rectangle/border. Hmm.
For 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016, we have the luxury of comparing the different bids from different candidate cities. If the host nation was selected on the design of the logos alone, I would choose to have the Olympics in another city. For 2000, Beijing would be the lucky host in my opinion. Again, I pick this logo because it tells the story well. The building structure signified location, I think the gold monotone helps translate the essence of Beijing, and the well-known rings make it obvious it’s the Olympics. What I like about the Sydney logo, however, are the bright colors, the “Aussie” boomerang influence in the body, and font choice. It’s a very unique font allowing it to be recognizes easily on its own. I have just seen the “scribbled human” too often in logos; therefore it’s not my favorite.
For 2004, I think that the cultures are portrayed very well. Greece is very obvious with the blue of the flag and the historical olive branch wreath. I love how romantic Buenos Aires is, and how Rome has the tiled texture to it (reminds me of the old bricked streets of Rome, and a quaint vineyard, ha!). Honestly though, I am not sure what is going on in Stockholm’s logo. Is it a statue? Of what? It kind of looks like a horse falling over and a person jumping over it… I don’t understand. But the winner here, in my opinion, would be Roma! Come on down!
Now, for 2008, I only like the chosen Beijing logo, really. I like how the font selection for the Beijing reflects that of ink scripture/calligraphy and the designed mark reminds me of Chinese seal carving. According to csymbol.com, “The Chinese Stamp Art (or seal carving) is one of the traditional four arts, i.e., Chinese painting, calligraphy, poetry and seal carving. A personal stamp in red color is an integrated part of a Chinese artwork of painting or calligraphy, which is not only the signature of the artist on the artwork, but also an essential touch to liven it up.” In a graphics class during college, we had a special guest come and teach us about Chinese stamp art. We had the opportunity to carve our own stones and create a stamp. Knowing the background, I appreciate this logo much more.
So, since when did the world of 2012 reflect 1985?? I feel like the chosen London logo for 2012 came right out of a MTV music video from the 80’s. It’s just weird. And “that’s all I got-ta say about that…“ (Forest Gump, get it?) But I’m not sure how I feel about the second London logo either… makes it slightly difficult to read the text.
And here is the future logo for the 2016 Olympics being held in Rio De Janeiro. What do you think about these 2016 logos?! And if you had to choose who will take home the gold medal logo for 2016, who will come in first place?
Even though my reference came from a post in 2008 from a web design website, it was where I could find the farthest back dated logos and references. Check it out here to see what other people think. mbwebdesign.co
And if you just want to check out what is happening with the 2012 Olympics, here you go!
