From 1896 to Present_ Olympic Logo Designs Analyzed

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From 1896 to Present: Olympic Logo DesignsAnalyzed

July 12, 2012 2 Comments

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and wi nter sports, in which thousands

of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered to be the w orlds

foremost sports competition and more than 200 nations participate. The Games are currently held every two

years, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating, although they occur every four years within

their respective seasonal games.

Originally, the ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th

century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. The

IOC has since become the governing body of the Olympic Movement, whose structure and actions are

defined by the Olympic Charter. This is a review of how the logo started being used in the Olympic games

and how it developed and changed. The logo was influenced by events and changes in the world, which

became incorporated into the design.

1896 Athens Olympics

Primary Logo (1896)

Multiple elements ty ing the ancient Olympic games to the modern Olympics.

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It is obvious that what is generally considered to be included in logo design at the present time is not

presented in this layout. This design is akin to illustrating a book cover, telling a whole story. There is one

tone color and very fine elaborated details in the design.

1904 St. Louis Olympics

Primary Logo (1904)

Poster depicting the Worlds Fair, during which the Olympic events were held.

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The colors get brighter, and this is the first year that the color red was featured in the Olympic logo design.

Since then, red has become one of the most popular colors to be used in future Olympic logos.

1908 London Olympics

Primary Logo (1908)

A high jumper in between the gates of the Olympic Stadium in London.


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The logo designs are starting to shift in focus, getting narrower in presentation. Instead of telling the full

story or showing every event, a single event or a main object is presented.

1912 Stockholm Olympics

Primary Logo (1912)

Many national flags waving in a circle, representing the opening ceremonies.


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Until 1912 the color pallet was limited to warm and earthy tones.

Beginning in 1912, we can see brighter, flatter, solid colors appearing. Symbolism and icons also began

finding their way into the design. Typography is also start ing to be taken into consideration within the

design layout.

It is interesting to note that during this time in Europe, the modern art movement w as taking shape. This

movement included great painters such as Picasso, Kandinsky, and more. However, we see little of their

influence in the Olympic logo design.

1916 Summer Olympics

The 1916 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were scheduled to be

held in Berlin, Germany, but were eventually cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I.

1920 Antwerp Olympics

Primary Logo (1920)

A discus thrower in front of the flags of the competing nations.


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We see similar approach as 1912 here again.

1924 Paris Olympics

Primary Logo (1924)

A boat on a coat of arms with Olympic script.

This design heralded a new approach. The creation of the entire logo in an icon format was a big step

forward. There is no standard poster or page layout. There are no colors, shapes have become much

simpler, and everything is presented in a line art format. It will be a couple of years until colors are broughtback into play. The tit le is removed from the icon (a bold move) and is placed on the top of the emblem. It

is assumed that the influence of the modern art movement was incorporated little by lit tle into designs of

the period.

1928 Amsterdam Olympics

Primary Logo (1928)

A runner in action holding a laurel branch, symbolizing victory


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Color has returned to this design. The background is almost a solid blue, and there is less detail on the

athlete presented.

1932 Los Angeles Olympics

Primary Logo (1932)

A stars and stripes shield.

In the 1932 US logo, the movement that started to appear in the last two Olympics logo designs continues.

Every element in the design becomes iconic. This is the first appearance of the Olympic rings in the logo

as well.

There are many basic design flaws within the logo. All of the textures clash on top of each other, so much

so that the designer had to place white boxes around the text to separate it from the background. The busy

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format of the logo dissuaded anyone from reading the text.

Even though this design has many issues, and can be considered as one of the weakest Olympic logos; in

terms of moving the design forward this logo is remarkable.

1936 Berlin Olympics

Primary Logo (1936)

A bell with an eagle on it.

The presence of World War II is felt strongly in the logo from 1936. Nothing is presented to give the feeling

of a happy sporting event. The use of line art design, absence of colors, and the eagle and bell give a

sense of a sad and dead environment.


Primary Logo (1948)

Big Ben with the Olympic rings in front of it.


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This is the first games held after WWII. While black and white still dominates the logo, the design is much

more polished. The shapes and forms are coordinated much better, and the Olympic rings become more

dominant in the design.

1952 Helsinki Olympics

Primary Logo (1952)

A building inside a blue rectangle.


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The 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne logos continued the trend of using a one-color design. The Olympic

logo circles are featured on top of buildings, which is the city symbol in 1952. There is less detail used in

this design than in the 1948 London design. The designers also started to reintroduce color into the logo in

a very conservative way.

1956 Melbourne Olympics

Primary Logo (1956)

An Olympic torch inside a green oval on a map.


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1960 Rome Olympics

Primary Logo (1960)

An ancient animal standing above MCMLX, the roman numeral for 1960.


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This is the first and only time an animal has been used in the Olympic logo. The design has reverted back

to black and white. In general this approach has evolved differently from the direction taken in previous

years.

1964 Tokyo Olympics

Primary Logo (1964)

The Japanese rising sun above the Olympic rings in gold.


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A beautiful logo utilizing minimal symbols and very effective graphical design. The red circle is not only the

symbol of the country, but is also a great focal point. This logo still shines compared to previous and future

Olympic logo designs.

1968 Mexico City Olympics

Primary Logo (1968)

Mexico 68 in split-grey lettering.

A different selection of fonts from the older logos starts to appear with this logo. Stylist ically, the

placement of the Olympic ring logo appearing above the year is questionable, as it is difficult to read the

year 68.

1972 Munich Olympics

Primary Logo (1972)

A blue and white spiral below the Olympic rings.


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This year recalls previous Olympic logo designs. Light blue reappears as the main color as it did in the

1928 Amsterdam Olympics . There is a very similar approach in layout to the 1964 Tokyo design. The spiral

shape utilized in the logo has nice dimensions and visual movement.

1976 Montreal Olympics

Primary Logo (1976)

The Olympic rings in red with a red M incorporated above it.

This Olympic logo features another strong design. The use of the letter M for Montreal on top of the 5Olympic rings is very creative, as it appears everything is woven together. This logo is sure to be included

in a hall of fame of Olympic logo designs.

1980 Moscow Olympics

Primary Logo (1980)

Six red stripes forming a peak pointing to a star.


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This layout is not as strong as the 1976 Montreal design, even though there are some similarit ies. The star

is a domino symbol which is designed to represent Moscow.

1984 Los Angeles Olympics

Primary Logo (1984)

A blue, white and red star above the rings.

This is a great improvement from the last Olympic logo that was used in the US logo from 1932. This logo

incorporates simplicity , symbols of the host country and a very creative design. The placement of the

United States flag in the logo is very patriotic.

1988 Seoul Olympics

Primary Logo (1988)

Three blue, red and gold swirls above the rings.


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The placement and size of the Olympic rings are similar to the ones utilized in the 1984 Los Angeles

games. The abstract format of the swirls and sense of movement is incorporated well into the logo design.

1992 Barcelona Olympics

Primary Logo (1992)

Blue, yellow and red lines to form a gymnastic routine.

The 1992 Barcelona logo continues the template of the previous years: keeping the rings in the lower part

and a motif on top. The abstract form could be a gymnastic routine or even a trace of Spanish bullfighting

which nicely reflects the host country.

1996 Atlanta OlympicsPrimary Logo (1996)

A torch with a 100underneath with a flame and stars.


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The 1996 Atlanta design is focused on the history of the Olympic games. The transit ion of the flames into

the stars is smoothly done.

2000 Sydney Olympics

Primary Logo (2000)

An abstract man holding a banner shaped like the Sydney Opera House, and a boomerang.

There is a new utilization of fonts for this design. The Sydney Opera House, which is the symbol of Sydney

is incorporated clearly. This design uses a similar approach to the 1992 Barcelona games.

2004 Athens Olympics

Primary Logo (2004)


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An olive wreath in the national colors of Greece.

This logo features a textured blue background with a more modern take on the symbolic olive wreath.

There is obviously effort being taken to distinguish this design from the one seen previously: utilizing

freestyle elements in the background as well as introducing painting style textures. Additionally, a

background color has not been incorporated since the 1952 Helsinki games. However, the unnecessarily

large trademark symbol draws attention away from the design.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Primary Logo (2008)

A dancing man, based on the Chinese character for capital.

The character presented in this logo could represent a sportsman, a runner, a gymnast or a Chinese

dancer. The font selection is also very clever, as it has some resemblance to the Chinese characters.


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Primary Logo (2012)

The container and main shape is 2012.

The presentation of the numbers in the design is meant to appeal to todays Internet generation. The

chairman of Londons 2012 organizing committee said It is an invitation to take part and be involved.

Stylist ically this logo is not as st rong as previous years; this has been discussed at length in the design

community.

This design is based on appealing to the current internet generation, as seen by the presentation of the

numbers.

Source of images:Sportslogos.net

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Saya Behnam

Saya Behnam is a graphic, web designer, mixed media artist and an entrepreneur for

more than 10 years. She lives in US and runs her design studio.

She provides graphic and web design articles & tutorials in her blog www.arterruption.net,

follow her on twitter @saya4.

From 1896 to Present_ Olympic Logo Designs Analyzed

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