Winter Olympic Designs Explained

By:

They’re Just Logos, Right?

Wrong. Each logo is a symbol of the times and a representation

of the host city.Add political environments to that equation.

Then factor in the artistic movements.And consider technological capabilities.

We at Signazon.com can offer our knowledge in the art of graphic design to help you interpret the trends behind all

the Winter Olympic Logos.

Keep In Mind:

• The 1940 & 1944 Olympic Games were cancelled due to WW2.

• Computer assisted graphic design was nonexistent until the invention of the mouse in 1970.

• The 1992 Olympic Game was the last time both summer and winter Olympic Games were held in the same year.

A Time Before Logos

The designs mirrored popular artistic movements:

Art Noveau

Bauhaus

FUTURISM

minimalism

1924 – Chamonix, France

1928 – St. Moritz Switzerland

Did You Notice?

The first use of this logo was in 1928

Est.

1928

1936 – Bavaria, Germany

1948 – St. Moritz, Switzerland

1932 – Lake Placid, USA

1952 – Oslo, Norway

1956 – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Did You Notice?

1956 was the first logo-centric design

1960 – Squaw Valley, USA

1964 – Innsbruck, Austria

1968 – Grenoble, France

1972 – Sapporo, Japan

1976 – Innsbruck, Austria

1980 – Lake Placid, USA

Did You Notice?

The last design went back to the poster theme.…But Futurism influenced it instead of Art Noveau

1984 – Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

1988 – Calgary, Canada

(Poster shown, but please focus on the logo only)

1992 – Albertville, France

1994 – Lillehammer, Norway

(1994’s logo brought back the border one game)

1998 – Nagano, Japan

2002 – Salt Lake City, USA

2006 – Turin, Italy

2010 – Vancouver, Canada

2014 – Sochi, Russia

2018 – PyeongChang, South Korea

• Each logo attempts to capture the spirit of each game’s location or host city.

• There is a battle between simple and complex design themes - what is not popular now may be the theme 2 years later.

• Finding the thin line between complexity versus minimalism is key.

What Does This Teach Us?

Expectations: Future Designs

• In the near future, Olympic logos will more than likely be created with sanserif fonts.

• The Olympic Logo and its colors will be used in most designs.

• Plan for the next candidate citys’ logos to be more complex or organic (less geometrical)– Why? It does not get more minimal than

PyeongChang’s 2018 design

Image ReferencesOlympics Logo - http://gurugraphicsgroup.com/files/2012/07/Olympic.png

The Boston Pops Orchestra. John Williams – Greatest Hits 1969-1999. Cond. John Williams. Rec. 2 Nov. 1999. Sony Classical, 1999. CD.

1924 - http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/57/84957-050-9D956BC5.jpg

1928 - http://www.99sportslogos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/1928-Winter-Olympics-Logo-Switzerland.jpg

1932 - http://olympicartifacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1932_w1.jpg

1936 - http://www.everseradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1936-olympic-games-poster.jpg

1948 - http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcxit8NlGg1rrcqu4o1_1280.jpg

1952 - http://www.regardemagazine.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/1952-Oslo-N.jpg

1956 - http://digitalpostercollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1956-Winter-Olympic-Games-Italy-Cortina-dAmpezzo-Logo1.jpg

1960 - http://vepca.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/die-olympischen-winterspiele.jpg

1964 - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/1964_Winter_Olympics_logo.png

1968 - http://hative.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/olympic-logos/grenoble-winter-1968-22.gif

1972 - http://www.regardemagazine.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/1972-Sapporo-J.jpg

1976 - http://www.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/legacy/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/innsbruck.jpg

1980 - http://chasethepuck.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1980-winter-olympics.jpg

1984 - http://andrewspaldingamer.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/winterolypicgames_1984_sarajevo_yugoslavia.jpg

1988 - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TwAbZhMGVEw/S2tdLWDvf5I/AAAAAAAAJwM/I4y60jUohuk/s1600/1988.jpg

1992 - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d1/1992_Winter_Olympics_logo.svg/1000px-1992_Winter_Olympics_logo.svg.png

1994 - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/1994_Winter_Olympics_logo.svg/1000px-1994_Winter_Olympics_logo.svg.png

1998 - http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130622181059/logopedia/images/7/73/200px-1998_Winter_Olympics_logo_svg.png

2002 - http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100904045047/logopedia/images/e/e8/200px-2002_Winter_Olympics_logo_svg.png

2006 - http://away2travel.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/torino-2006-su-bianco.jpg

2010 - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RyTV8gwEeOQ/S3u2o-nRsMI/AAAAAAAABGo/LGgjzJjx4Y0/s1600-h/2000px-Vancouver_2010_logo.png

2014 - http://dvo53oxmpmca8.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/SOC_Olympic-logoRGB.jpg

2018 - http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130506214416/logopedia/images/e/e2/PyeongChang_2018.svg