The Age of Information, Part I (Module 8)

The first Olympics in my lifetime occurred when I was two years old, however, my first recollection of the Olympics was at the age of 10 years.  I fell in love with the Olympics, I found them both inspiring and heartbreaking.  In the following decades, I was bombarded with images of graphic design when watching the games, but to be honest, I never paid much attention.  Upon reading about the powerful impact of the Olympic games on graphic design, I became curious regarding the design of current Olympic logos.  I decided to investigate the logo of the 2014 games.

However, my search brought me back to the origins of the symbols we equate with the Olympics, and I felt a brief treatment of that topic made sense, prior to delving into current designs.  While the text provided an ample discussion of the logo in recent years, the origins and meanings behind the initial trademark were not discussed.  Perhaps the most iconic graphic of the Olympic games is the five interconnected rings.  Fairly common knowledge is that these rings were meant to represent the five inhabited continents (with the Americas considered as a single continent).  Not only were the interlocking nature of the rings intended to foster a sense of international connectedness, but the color selection demonstrated this same aim.  At the time of the ring symbol's induction (1920 Belgium games), the five colors, plus the white of the background, represented the colors present on every national flag at the time of its unveiling (The Olympic Museum, 2007).  The use of graphic design to associate a sense of unity with the games was not limited to the logos induction, Meggs and Purvis (2012) point out that graphics were key in rekindling the international celebratory nature of the games, after the fracturing caused by terrorism and boycotts in the late twentieth century.

As time passed, rules and regulations were applied to this famous symbol, including exact standards for the position and color of each ring (The Olympic Museum, 2007).  In some ways, this mirrors the International Typographic Style and art concret.  According to Meggs and Purvis (2012), these movements did not adhere to strict regulations, as the Olympic symbols must, but aimed for clarity and rejected strange solutions.  The regulations set by the Olympic Committee lead to a simple clarity and avoid odd incarnations of the symbol; this is important for this symbol to be so readily recognizable throughout the world.  It is interesting, despite regulations, designers have found ways to manipulate their designs to be truly unique.  This allows the symbol to be both "absolutely fixed and used in a consistent manner (Meggs & Purvis, 2012)," but allows for the creativity that leads to a strong graphics.  The logo from the 1968 games in Mexico is distinct example of maintaining the absolute standards, but infusing the design with a distinct elements.

Olympic games, Mexico, 1968

While the ring symbol of the Olympic demonstrates unity, the overall design of the logo, often demonstrates the design culture or world culture of the era. The logo for the 2014 Olympics is no exception.  The ".ru" in the design is initially confusing, but ".ru" is the web domain of Russia, the home of the 2014 Olympics.  The inclusion of a URL in an Olympic games logo is odd, as it sets a new precedent.  The brand council's design was purposeful, it meant to show the game's "commitment to innovation" (Challand, 2009), it was designed to represent the digital age and attract younger generations.  Also, there is a mirror image between "hi" and "14" that is intended to represent the mountains meeting the sea/ocean.

Sochi Olympic Logo, 2009

The new logo is a telling example of how innovation is not always met with enthusiasm.  Airey (2009) voices many of the detractors opinions in his blog, stating that it has too many competing ideas, the domain is superfluous (as individuals can google the site), and mirrored typeface is "clumsy."  He also provides information on the some of the positive aspects, particularly in that it was considered an improvement over the logo of the London games.  The logo for the Sochi games will give a chance to observe first hand how the opinion of innovative graphic design idea may, or may not, change as it comes into regular use this January

Works Cited

Airey, D. (2009, December 2).  Sochi 20014 Olympic Logo. Logo Design Love. Retrieved from http://www.logodesignlove.com/sochi-2014-olympic-logo

Challand, S. (2009, December 1).  Sochi unveils official 2014 Olympic Games logo. idsgn. http://idsgn.org/posts/sochi-unveils-official-2014-olympic-games-logo/

Meggs, P. B., & Purvis, A. W. (2012). Meggs' History of Graphic Design (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

The Olympic Museum (2007).  Retrieved from http://www.olympic.org/documents/reports/en/en_report_1303.pdf