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design of Inclusivity by exclusivity - inclusively exclusive design... Instead of excluding the vision-impaired or people of different languages, we've included them by excluding EVERYONE.
the pure gall to say "pictogram are a thing of the past so we're gonna call them coats of arms instead" the famously innovative revolutionary thing that are coats of arms
Wasn't that just an attempt at humour though ? it seems that way to me, as coat of arms are still pretty common to see in France with all the historical buildings etc and many french cities having their own, and it's obvious that they're the real thing of the past instead of pictograms. Felt like an attempt to justify a history-inspired design in a joke-y way
You're taking it far too literally. Try looking at coats if arms in purely formal terms and you'll see what he's driving at. It's about axial balance and symmetry in symbolic forms But yes, it fails
@@RobespierreThePoof oh yeah i see the influence, but still it's passeist (idk if it's a word in english but yk) bullshit that tries to disguise itself as sleek and modern. On every level it fails. It fails to reinvent the pictogramm, it fails to draw inspiration from what it names itself after (because well radial symettry is not a key feature of coat of arms) and well it's just like the rest of the olympics com, people getting payed way too much to feel really clever whilst accomplying nothing
The brand director calling pictograms "a relic" and then immediately referencing them as coats of arms is the funniest most elitist sounding thing ever
Reminds me of how weird branding/rebranding explanation is relatively common. The explanation for the new Spotify (Spotify Mix) typeface by the folks over at Dinamo ABC that justifies the weird design choices is just absolutely bonkers writing: "Another key design feature in the mix is the almond-shaped counter found in letters like “p”, “d”, and “g”, which subtly allude to the transmission and expansion of audio waves. Lastly, three sets of numbers invite further play and variety." [sic] Wha- What are they even talking about here?? The audio wave reference isn't even visible at all (for me), even with the explanation. It sounds like a half-baked attempt at an explanation for the weird creative design the typeface went with. Regardless, it juxtaposes with the rounded interface of the app in a not so good way, so this is why I don't like the new typeface that much. I guess they just don't want to pay the licensing for Circular but come on... I wish the execution was much better than this. TL;DR: Local man goes on a tangent from Parisian pictograms and yells at Spotify new typeface. Typeface looks sharp, playful and weird, he doesn't like it. Even with the attempted justification of the branding agent.
Also fun fact: the P for parking road sign was invented for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics that was one of the first that had to deal with lots of people arriving by car
Definitely the kind of reason they just pulled out of their ass after already having made the designs. I'm pretty sure no one has ever complained that a featureless stick figure is somehow not inclusive
@@l0remipsum991 Did you watch the opening ceremony ? Half of it is dedicated to showing the athletes on the boats, as much as any of the previous opening ceremony
As someone who doesn't know all Olympic disciplines by heart, it's hard enough to recognize the sports with good pictograms. These borderline make it impossible.
@@exxplore then you should have a better time with these because they have more details and context clues than previous pictograms. Compare the 2024 biking blasons vs the Tokyo biking pictograms.
As someone who loves most sports and can work out what the pictograms mean, the fact that it takes me a couple seconds to realize what some of them are depicting, means they were poorly designed.
Tbh, I appreciate the extra details behind the Paris pictograms. It doesn't make sense why people want to keep seeing the same basic designs representing sports. Everybody already knows what sports there are so finding what sport it's referring to is less meaningful nowadays, and pictograms are a way for the host city to display their unique designs with special features which these Paris ones have done
As a wheelchair user, and one who does a few sports in mine to boot, I very much do not feel "more included" by being represented as a disembodied wheelchair. Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't seen those pictograms, only the able-bodied Olympic ones, in most of the discussion about it.
yeah it’s really bad, but unsurprising given that that’s how i have been perceived by people around me all my life. just a wheelchair user and not a full human being who contains multitudes and different hobbies and interests
I'm a little confused, at 2:23, was that supposed to be a wheelchair in the middle? Without the context I would've never gotten that... And I'm still not sure
I was wondering the exact thing. I'm not too familiar with the exact differences in how the Paralympics and Olympics operate. Are there that many categorical breakdowns of each sport for the Paralympics that you couldn't just use the same symbols from the Olympics and vise versa?
They definitely do, they're barely understandable if you have decent enough sight, and you can see them from up close. It's ridiculous to expect people to be able to grasp their meaning "in situ". Though truth be told, making working, usable pictograms wasn't their objectives, they just wanted them to look pretty on merch.
@@filiaautI’ve been wearing glasses since the 4th grade and I’m having to squint to make out the very thin lines in some of those pictograms while watching this video on my phone. I can’t imagine what it must be like to try to look for and distinguish them while walking around Paris in person…
If they do not I will be shocked. I bet even for non VI people trying to parse a venue map with those is going to be a pain. You pretty muvh have to to try and focus on one quarter of the edge of them to try and figure out what sport they are.
@@christina.kleman Two things, as the creators of the first set of pictograms the Tokyo team really respected the pictograms and understood what the objective of them was.
Even three years later, I still re-watch that part of the Tokyo opening ceremony, as well a video of someone reproducing those icons using parts he made on a 3d printer.
They suck as coats of arms, too. The point of those were that you needed to be able to tell your soldiers from the *other guy's* soldiers at a glance over a battlefield. There's no fields of well-contrasting colors separated by white or yellow. The French cavalry will be blindsided by enemy archers when they mistake the archery logo for swimming.
Yeah, if you're going to call them coats of arms then you really should use actual design elements from coats of Symmetry isn't usually one, and distinctiveness is quite important indeed.
Yeah, they were clearly thinking of coats of arms as the obsessively overdetailed flanderization of themselves some grew into after they stopped being primarily used on the battlefield and became more about dick-measuring by how many famous families you could technically claim descent from. Like the 1st Marquess of Buckingham’s infamous 719-times quartered mess of a coat, or Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II’s “Greater” coat of arms. But even Emperor Joseph ALSO had a LESSER coat of arms that was more legible for when he actually needed to use it as, well, ARMS.
You are confusing armoiries and blason which in English are often both translated as Coat of Arms. Armoiries have limited colours and geometric shapes while blasons have symbols. And the designer definitely said that these are blasons not armoiries. In any case, blasons and armoiries have all evolved over time to become family symbols rather than military identifiers. It doesn't help that people confuse all these terms either. In any case they are definitely coat of arms. As in coat (Ecu): shields Of arms (armes): weapons. Aka a material representation of the weapons of the champion in question over a shield. For example, the royal family of England has a coat of arms with a freaking lion and unicorn that would be very hard to figure out in a battle field. So I guess coat of arms don't need to be highly distinguishable from afar
"Pictograms are outdated" says the designer who refers to the new designs as coat of arms, something that has been outdated since the middle ages ended.
That's the joke though. Do the design accomplish their informative role well ? No. But the sentence about pictograms being from the past that's why they're going for coats of arms was an obvious joke, it feels silly to attempt to mock it when criticizing the design itself makes more sense.
They're far too complex and thin. Great for ornamentation, but terrible for readability. The axis of symmetry concept is good in theory, but it makes the ability to uniquely design and identify which sport it represents harder.
exactly this. when i first saw them i thought "hey, these look really nice!" but then i had to pause to really stare each one down to figure out what sport each one even represented... they're pretty for sure, but fail to do the one job they were made for. i almost wonder if this will negatively impact people's navigation of the games in person because they essentially cant rely on the pictograms to find what they need.
Yes, viewed as individuals at a decent size they are pretty. The first few examples made me want to like them. I probably would like one on a tshirt or a tote bag. But as soon as you start using them in groups or shrinking them they become indistinguishable. Which is a real failure to meet the brief when you consider wayfinding is a major purpose for their use.
@@iLOLZU42 they have more details than the Tokyo or london pictograms which makes sports that are very similar (like biking or canoeing) easier to identify. Just look at the different biking events in the Tokyo pictograms and compare with the Paris blason-logos. They're bad at being pictograms because that's not what they are.
Even in theory, the axis of symmetry concept has problems. Since every design has at least 2-fold rotational symmetry, you're immediately wasting half your visual bandwidth. Given just how many pictograms are in the set, and the fact that they're small and monochrome, they did not have much spare bandwidth to begin with.
I've made thousands of icons over the years, and if I sent these to my clients the feedback would be "these are unreadable, can you simplify them". Pictograms and general design/theme are usually what I'm most hyped about with every Olympics, and these have really been a let down, especially after Tokyo's, which went full circle back to the original.
@@arrioch it's because they're not pictograms but blason-style icons. And they are doing a lot of important issues very well that we normally ignore in pictograms. It's a different direction which represents each sport better at the cost of legibility from a distance. Maybe there's something to learn here?
@@terry_the_terrible they objectively do not represent sports better. If you need more than half a minute to figure out what the sport is even on full view, they failed at their basic purpose. What issues are they solving?
a graphic design team calling the olympic pictograms a "relic" is wild to me, considering that they're iconic enough to be used as an exercise in my past graphic design classes (we were tasked to draw our own pictograms)
2:15 exactly - if the overall effect of the design is literally “de-humanizing,” then choosing to center mobility aids in design removes agency from disabled athletes. their achievements are less important to the design philosophy than the aids they use, which is gross
yeah i was thinking 'oh that's not a bad idea, that means you don't need to use different pictograms for the paralympic versions of events, that does kinda feel more inclusive' and then BOOM WHEELCHAIR
@@amytysoe2292 right, I use a wheelchair and I thought maybe he was leading-into using the same versions for both as well. But nope. We're still objectified, but now even more literally. Thanks France.
I wouldn’t say it is, using the mobility aid, which is a required piece of equipment, is like using a tennis racket in the tennis logo, or a bike in the biking event. All can’t be achieved without that fundamental item, and you wouldn’t use the tennis ball for tennis since it would be confused with other ball sports. Calling it dehumanising is a stretch
Trying to reinvent the wheel and making something worse for the sake of uniqueness is what we're often taught in French art schools, so yeah that's not surprising they went in this direction lol
This very much explains the entire Paris opening ceremony falling flat on it's face, except Céline Dion singing. Paris tried to reinvent a grand stadium using the entire city instead of... a stadium. The whole thing was messy and the cameras had trouble deciding where to focus because all the things were happening all over the city. The torch lighting itself had NOBODY there in person except the torch bearers and filming crew.
@@_Just_Another_Guy I mean, the torch lighting isn't even one, there is no fire on the olympic torch in the Tuileries gardens, just lit-up mist. Having attended the opening ceremony, I have to say though it worked quite well, allowing much more spectators than the usual, showcasing Paris (IMO the prime funciton of that whole show), and overall tying together the whole even with its sites and the whole city.
@@_Just_Another_Guy majority of international media praised it as one of the best opening except the conservatives, so no, it doesnt fall flat just because you didnt like it lol
@@MissYoonyul Delusional. The "Last Supper" segment was panned to the point that the artistic director & organizers had to make a public apology for it. The French citizens themselves were either unimpressed, disgusted, or outright embarrased with the ceremony, saying "this isn't our culture and it's difficult to navigate around our city to get to our workplaces with the restrictions." There are numerous articles on it online. Go read them.
Nice video. As a Japanese, I am very pleased to know Tokyo 1964 first introduced pictograms to the games. One thing to point out is that the Japanese language use Chinese characters which are one of the few ideograms still used today. It's just a random guess, but I feel like Japanese people are more aware of what needs to be done to tell "a meaning through simple images" as that's pretty much the concept of Chinese characters.
I looked up the pictograms before watching the video. I was doing okay identifying them at first. Basketball, Volley- no, Beach Volleyball - I guess those dots are sand, Archery. Then we got to two pictures of canoes, five pictures of a bike, three with horses - only two of which had a helmet on them so I guess the horse competes in that last event alone?
Yeah, plus the incorporation of the ground it's played on makes it harder to understand, in my opinion. I had no clue what was going on in the rugby one because I'm not familiar with it is a game, and don't really know what the pitch looks like, so it just looked like random shapes to me. I feel like people more familiar with each sport would appreciate the designs more, but not many people are gonna be familiar with *every* one, so it just makes it more confusing.
@@Enrique-ir4yqThe shooting one looks like some kind of camera looking at me. Completely devoid of meaning. Surfing is also very confusing, and very much agree on the trampoline one. Oof
If it weren't for the fact the names of the events were right next to the Freestyle BMX, BMX Racing, and the Mountain Biking symbols at 3:54 I wouldn't have been able to guess the difference besides "bike go upside-down", "bike is bike", and "bike go fast at angle".
calling pictograms a relic of the past and stating that the exclusion of humans is specifically for inclusivity are two of the best arguments for why these things suck. the artist could've easily said that they just enjoy pushing boundaries with their designs, but they had to be standoffish and make things up for the zero people who actually thought the old pictograms weren't inclusive enough
I totally agree with you; They work nicely as decoration, even if they don't mesh with the rest of the aesthetic of the Paris 2024 games. But function-wise, they're nightmarish and I have to take at least a few seconds to work out which is which. They perhaps should have done what London 2012 did and made separate sets for form and function. Love or hate the look of London 2012, they at least made the right choice by doing separate pictogram sets for anything they wanted to look more "pretty".
Being French and feeling deeply ornamental myself, I would say you're absolutely right. I have a hard time understanding, especially at a glance and definitely from a distance, what is supposed to be what. Not to mention when it describes rare sports. This is pretty at a large scale, and would work on a shirt, like you said, but not as a means of delivering information in a timely manner.
In urban areas throughout France, you will find a wide variety of pictograms, including traffic signs. The pictograms are easy to understand, correct, and well-designed, which is probably due to the fact that there are many citizens of various languages and many tourists. Recently, the French railroad company SNCF, the oldest railroad company in Europe with high goals, seems to have standardized its signs nationwide: LRT, cabs, buses, rental bicycles, rental cars, and so on. ... are clearly distinguishable by their pictograms. In addition, information on information centers, ticket offices, waiting rooms, restrooms, etc. could be included, but this information board focuses on “mobility” (although there is an introduction of stores), and the information is kindly provided from the viewpoint of travelers who have arrived at the station. It is a kind information board from the viewpoint of travelers who have arrived at the station. In the future, these various new pictograms in France will continue to be refined and updated, but they will not replace the coat of arms...
I think the "coat of arms" and "axis of symmetry" ideas were somewhat interesting, but I feel like they could've been executed much better. I had also never thought of the fact that the focus on gear and the ground leads to situations like the Paralymics pictogram one you mentioned in the video. I'll take the traditional pictograms over the Paris ones any day of the week, and I hope that the Los Angeles 2028 olympics and onwards revert to those.
Honestly, I think it would be cool to have both, with the pictograms taking priority in terms of smaller symbols and navigation, while the "coats of arms" being used as a more decorative symbol and used for TV and decorative designs
leaving the wheelchair and removing the person is absolutely eyewatering levels of head-up-butt. reminds me of my province leader saying once, "we stand with our special olympians" while standing next to a partially paralysed paralympian, who could not in fact, stand.
These work great on banners and thumbnails about the events, but they're awful at small scales like maps and broadcasting overlays. If they wanted these coats of arms so badly they could've done them separate from the actual pictograms, or at least made simpler versions that were more readable at smaller scales
I am calling absolute total bullshit on the “inclusivity” thing. The stick-figure like design of pictograms is as neutral representation of a human there is.
A stick figure is offensive towards obese people. Why are you so against body positivity? I bet you didn't like the lady portraying Jesus in the OC either.
To be honest I'm not surprised. These scream elitism and pretentiousness and I can hear in my head those responsible saying "you plebs just don't understand our genious".
I noticed that NBC is using these designs for interstitials and as decoration, but use their own traditional pictograms for navigation in Peacock, in the NBC Sports app, etc.
Coats of arms have very similar guidelines to the pictograms you mentioned, since they were invented to be recognizable on a battlefield As someone who is into heraldry, the statement from that director is ridiculous
They are talking about a new class of pictograms that they are calling "Blasons". They are an homage to ecussons/coat of arms not meant to replace Coat of arms or pictograms. The point was to show the tools of the athlete or their "arms" aka their weapons of competition rather than their gender or disability.
@@terry_the_terrible Yes I get that, but the Paris pictograms don't even resemble coats of arms. If you look at old heraldry, you see bold shapes and contrasts The House of Bourbon used three golden lilies on a blue field, that's a great example of a coat of arms, very simple and very recognizable from far away Royal heraldry became more complicated later on, when different arms were merged together on one shield, but if you represent a single sport with each pictogram, that shouldn't be the inspiration Out of any set of pictograms, Mexico 1968 looks the most like coats of arms, because of how they're structured
@@DoppelpunktDDD it's hard to explain in English but what they are doing are Blasons which are different from Ecus and unfortunately both of them are translated as Coat of arms in English. In any case they are perfectly valid traditional line art blasons although they added a diagonal line of symmetry and are using modern imagery. You really shouldn't limit your perspectives to medieval Frank Ecus, blasons are family symbols and are still used today
@@DoppelpunktDDD And you really shouldn't be cherry picking your examples. Almost all modern blasons/coat of arms are quite complicated and have ditched the requirement of being able to recognised from 2km away. And frankly if the 2024 Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom which features (gasp) the French words "Dieu et mon Droit" is not a legitimate enough blason for you then all I can say is that you're snobbier than the Royal family.
The diagonally-reflected, kaleidoscope design is potentially cool. I wish they'd made so the designs simplified at small scale. If there'd been a clear core element in the centre,, something precise and readable at small scale, additional layers of ornamentation could have been added, expanding the pictogram for use at larger sizes. This could have worked much better, while still being useful AND still referencing the baroque patterns and heavy ornamentation it seems like they were going for.
If they used just one of the quadrants as an icon in space- or readability-constrained environments (e.g. the map, or the table), I think that could have worked well. A lot of the “coats of arms” seem well-suited for it, since they have a pretty recognizable graphical element somewhere, but it just gets harder to immediately pick out in the more elaborate versions.
I think it even fails the criteria of "coat of arms" or blazonry. A blazon is composed first of all by colours or tinctures on your canvas or field; then you put over it the stripes, the bends, the saltires, etc; then you put over all the ornamentations, the lions, the stars, the scallops, etc. The colours and shapes are integral for readability. Making this thing monochrome completely counters this principle.
True. By definition, a coat of arms is a description first and image second. That image can be rendered in wildly different fashion by different artists.
...symmetry doesn't add any new information to the reader, it rather adds confusion since mind interprets the shape(s) as a single one. One might say there is a diagonal separation line, but even that is a problem since negative space is a much more effective (common) way of separating shapes. On the other hand, since there is duplication of shapes they scale poorly becase the other (redundand) shape is taking up precious space at smaller scales. Basically everything could be twice as big in the same "footprint"...:/
After watching many different events I've changed my mind about the iconography.. Your points about the icons are valid when viewed in isolation. In action they have been delightful. NBC introduces each event showing the icon centre screen for enough time for the viewer to absorb the symbol and its meaning, then "explodes" the symbol out to its components, further enabling the view to understand what's coming up. Beautifully done. And I looooove the basketball court in all its Louis Vuitton glory. Thanks for a wondeful vid. I felt well informed about the basics of iconography (I hope I'm using the right word), and prepared for what to look for in their in their actual use.
The brand director's comment all but says "being accessible isn't important, we want these to be pretty", which is a pretty disgusting but unsurprising attitude.
For my neurodivergent brain they are easier to read than little (often very stylized) pictures of athletes, but i get that they might be harder to read for others.
As a designer working for news. I needed the set to work with in our graphics. I noticed the coat of arms concept but even for me as a designer it was a guess work to identify them to use them correctly. I think you hit the mark by pointing that there was a design vocaublary that has been discarded. the elements of the whole design set are from different design strategies.
This is a prime example of falling in love with something conceptually and not being able to let go despite it being incompatible with brand standards and usability.
Google Maps can't help you find your way around backstage areas, or things that change fast or temporarily, as things do with large-scale events like the Olympics. Those designs are completely unreadable and were hard to parse on a large screen, let alone on small signage or maps.
Thanks for explaining, since I'm from Mexico I know that the pictograms had a clear function, and when I saw this monsters I was so confused, like "Aren't this supposed to be easily comprehensible??"" When looking at the sports schedules for the day in my country, they use the pictograms. I find these difficult to understand, and I end up don't even knowing what are we competing for
Gotta love it when someone shits on a design and then proceeds to make something much, much worse. I couldn't even figure out what most of these are meant to represent when you were flashing them on the screen.
100% agree that they are decent decorations and terrible functional-objects. I can't tell what at least half of them are trying to be; it's just too noisy.
Or maybe the issue is that you're not familiar with these sports? They certainly have enough detail to differentiate them and they're certainly more distinct from one another than the Tokyo pictograms.
I love how they look in the decorative applications, but as iconography trying to relay some information they do a awful job except in the animated transitions. At large scale on a screen with motion they read amazingly well and give a a much more interesting transition that just a coin with the pictogram on it flashing on screen.
The first feeling I had before I thinking of selling merch was that the design team was like "Fuck, they animated the pictograms, we have to do the same" and started from that point.
Uuh, they are really nice in motion (4:53)! I like them. But yeah, they should probably have made a series of more simple, more readable pictograms to go along with their cool decorative 'coat of arms'.
Yes, the same for me. I was really surprised how well the pictogram works in motion. I'm curious how these will be used in tiktoks/shorts. Could this be the channel they've been really made for? Not for navigation, but for social media?
I loved those animations too! It feels like they were made specifically to be seen in motion. They should've made a secondary and simplified version for printed media and this whole thing could've been avoided.
As a polyglot who loves the visual representations of languages like calligraphy and pictograms, I think this is a major FAIL. Those "symmetric" signs are all too similar and confusing... You're telling me every person is expected to spend a few seconds trying to separate repeated sections and categorize dozens of diagonal lines just to decipher the meaning??? You're right... truly useless (re)design.
This video was delightful! I’m glad the yt gods served me this today. The coats of arms are horrendous 😂 what are they thinking?????? Aesthetic over absolutely everything! In my opinion, the 1968 mexico city ones worked as “disembodied” because they focused heavily on a very small but representative detail of the discipline and included human “parts” when necessary (hands holding things etc). It was abstraction to make things bigger in the square pictogram, not abstraction to create a fancy pattern
The "coat of arms" concept definitely looks better as a decorative thing... Like you said, when displayed on Olympic basketball courts, or as decorative pins, they look really nice. But as symbols meant to easily represent a certain sport, not so much And I think that, by showing off more of the terrain these sports take place on (volley court, tennis court, road) rather than the actual playing item used in the sport (a volleyball, a tennis ball etc) it's so much harder to tell from afar what the sport actually is
I love every one of your videos! The clarity of thought and expression, the consistency between your expertise as a designer and the scope of your argument... great stuff every time. Thank you!
makes sense the differents types of styles if the differents department were working in parallel and not as a unit: the mascot, the logo, the branding, the pictograms even the medals are not in the same graphic line
as i was watching the opening ceremony it felt clunky and not at all cohesive, like they just commisioned the different acts to create their performances and slapped them together, not to mention the god-awful acoustics over the river making the show unwatchable. All i could think of was "wow, remember the beijing 2008 opening ceremony? was it good because it was one continuous show, or was that nostalgia?"
I think you have it on the nose at 3:31 - we've come a long way from the essential nature of pictograms, but to do away with them at an institution such as the Olympics would be absurd. Still, as a novel approach to a pictogram-adjacent device they're gorgeous to look at and it's symmetry and fine detail is one to appreciate. Plus - going against its rule of being immediately recognisable - there is a reward in realising the sport and how it was designed to reflect it, very satisfying all the same. Decorative yes, informational? Less so.
I kept thinking something was off and I was not finding what I wanted while navigating streaming of the games and news ect, and now I think I understand why
I genuinely really like them in any artistic and decorative context. They're very ornamental, cohesive, and creative. And the animated versions! Wonderful! But my gosh, as traditional pictograms (like in the map at 3:48) they do a very bad job. Perhaps an alternate set which just uses one element of the larger design could've worked?
Idk about anywhere else but UA-cam TV has pictograms for most of the events when looking at the thumbnails, idk if they made them or are reusing old ones but either way it makes it so much easier to know what sport each video is when scrolling without having to read all the titles.
It seems like a very French aproach. "Oh, we're so awesome new and inovative - we missed the whole mark..." Really sad, as the pictograms are such a deep part of Olympic history. They make navigation easy and the viewing experience much more pleasant. If you have the choice between reading the name of a dicipline and looking at a little sign, you would always prefer the sign.
I really want to know what this visual identity using these motifs would have looked like applied across the games (like you say towards the end). The basketball court's floor consisting of the coat of arms is really interesting but I wonder how far that motif could be taken before becoming exhausting or overwhelming - I suppose perhaps that's the issue! Again, as you point out, it is undeniably French and interesting to imagine applied more consistently.
I really appreciate this deep dive. I super agree that it feels more form over function this time around! I've been looking for videos talking about the design history of the Olympics so I'll be watching your pictograms video next :)
I immediately thought back to when I was a kind playing one of the olympic sports games on my 16 bit console, the pictograms were recreated easily on the little 32x32 icons, there's no way you could make any of those readable at that size. not really a problem we have nowadays but still. they fail at their purpose. pretentious junk.
Didnt london 2012 have to sets of logos / pictograms? one for readability and one for larger patterns or designs or just looking cool? That idea would or worked much better here
I like the coat of arms as coat of arms. Just like having them as a national flag, it is just a bad idea, but they look great as decoration. If other host cities want to explore coat of arms, seal, or other more elaborate designs, go for it, but keep a set of simple pictogram for navigation.
I wished they used the Mascot pictograms more this year's Olympics as they are honestly ten times better than the ones that are being used and are more readable when condensed.
Thank you for this video 😭 I was baffled when I was looking up schedules for some of the newer Olympic sports on the official website since the designs weren't clear enough for me to really catch a glance of the particular events I was searching for and the lack of human-looking elements made it harder for me to narrow my search quicker. For a moment I thought I was looking at a video game skill tree UI set that would work for that sort of format together (and I could see how they would look nice in motion)...but for way-finding on printed banners and maps designating the events for those attending the games this Olympics? It's a learning experience, huh 😅😭
The "brand director" is just being obtusely French and seeking to set these games apart from everything before. I think we are seeing a tiny tantrum over France no longer being the diplomatic powerhouse it was in the 19th Century.
The art director is a leftist artist, openly gay and integrated in the Parisian culture scene. I can guarantee you he has no nostalgia of any “diplomatic” past, he is not a Napoleon aficionado. He just wants to display Paris as an inclusive, culturally modern and distinctive city (not sure he managed to do it, that’s another debate).
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Please don't blame the madness of a few ones on the whole country, sacrebleu !
100% they work like a brocade in fabrics or the YSL bag print. Beautiful for that purpose.
"We're promoting inclusivity and equality, by making them equally hard for everyone to read"
they're evolving, just backwards
design of Inclusivity by exclusivity - inclusively exclusive design... Instead of excluding the vision-impaired or people of different languages, we've included them by excluding EVERYONE.
Solving the problem by creating a bigger more inclusive problem... Innovative that's for sure !
There were no problems with a stick figure 😭 3:00 even these make more sense lmao... They're trying to solve some problem that doesn't exist
😂 agree👍
the pure gall to say "pictogram are a thing of the past so we're gonna call them coats of arms instead" the famously innovative revolutionary thing that are coats of arms
Somebody in the comments said "Pictograms are a thing of the past, so we're introducing cave paintings instead" 😭
Wasn't that just an attempt at humour though ? it seems that way to me, as coat of arms are still pretty common to see in France with all the historical buildings etc and many french cities having their own, and it's obvious that they're the real thing of the past instead of pictograms. Felt like an attempt to justify a history-inspired design in a joke-y way
*gaul (hah)
You're taking it far too literally. Try looking at coats if arms in purely formal terms and you'll see what he's driving at. It's about axial balance and symmetry in symbolic forms
But yes, it fails
@@RobespierreThePoof oh yeah i see the influence, but still it's passeist (idk if it's a word in english but yk) bullshit that tries to disguise itself as sleek and modern. On every level it fails. It fails to reinvent the pictogramm, it fails to draw inspiration from what it names itself after (because well radial symettry is not a key feature of coat of arms) and well it's just like the rest of the olympics com, people getting payed way too much to feel really clever whilst accomplying nothing
The brand director calling pictograms "a relic" and then immediately referencing them as coats of arms is the funniest most elitist sounding thing ever
𝓟𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓶𝓼
Pictograms are a relic of the past. We’re introducing the concept of the cave paintings at Lascaux
Reminds me of how weird branding/rebranding explanation is relatively common. The explanation for the new Spotify (Spotify Mix) typeface by the folks over at Dinamo ABC that justifies the weird design choices is just absolutely bonkers writing:
"Another key design feature in the mix is the almond-shaped counter found in letters like “p”, “d”, and “g”, which subtly allude to the transmission and expansion of audio waves. Lastly, three sets of numbers invite further play and variety." [sic]
Wha- What are they even talking about here?? The audio wave reference isn't even visible at all (for me), even with the explanation. It sounds like a half-baked attempt at an explanation for the weird creative design the typeface went with. Regardless, it juxtaposes with the rounded interface of the app in a not so good way, so this is why I don't like the new typeface that much. I guess they just don't want to pay the licensing for Circular but come on... I wish the execution was much better than this.
TL;DR: Local man goes on a tangent from Parisian pictograms and yells at Spotify new typeface. Typeface looks sharp, playful and weird, he doesn't like it. Even with the attempted justification of the branding agent.
**Slow clap in Munich 72**
seriously I had to go back and play that bit again because I thought I'd misheard what was said..
For those who don't know, the Tokyo 1964 Olympics gave birth to the now universally used Toilet pictogram, the two persons alongside each other.
Thank amine for skibidy
Also fun fact: the P for parking road sign was invented for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics that was one of the first that had to deal with lots of people arriving by car
Man insane how much legacy does the Olympics have. Wasteful to see it all wash away these couple of years
beat! also i think they, those are/were awesome
@@strawberrykun6136 What? We still use the toilet pictogram and the parking sign.
I like the design but it is absolutely terrible for providing information
It's a cool design and a bad pictogram.
@@hannah42069 it's a barely functional pictogram and a clever coat of arms. Maybe because it's not a pictogram?
Exactly
I was like ew
and then the merch pins 👀
*and the court patterning
at least it isn't beijing 2008's pictogram for equestrian sports. looked like someone riding a toothbrush.
I think they're very clear. 🤷♀️ As long as they aren't tiny...
"getting rid of the athlete gets the pictogram more inclusive"
THEY'RE FREAKING STICK FIGURES
Honestly 😂
Definitely the kind of reason they just pulled out of their ass after already having made the designs. I'm pretty sure no one has ever complained that a featureless stick figure is somehow not inclusive
got rid of athletes in their opening ceremony too
@@l0remipsum991 Did you watch the opening ceremony ? Half of it is dedicated to showing the athletes on the boats, as much as any of the previous opening ceremony
Uhm, those “stick figures” were clearly CIS WHITE MALES. Check your privilege 😤😤
As someone who doesn't know all Olympic disciplines by heart, it's hard enough to recognize the sports with good pictograms. These borderline make it impossible.
@@exxplore then you should have a better time with these because they have more details and context clues than previous pictograms.
Compare the 2024 biking blasons vs the Tokyo biking pictograms.
So true. Looking at the map with the pictograms, I can only think people with visual impairment won't have a chance
As someone who loves most sports and can work out what the pictograms mean, the fact that it takes me a couple seconds to realize what some of them are depicting, means they were poorly designed.
@@terry_the_terrible The real problem is most of the sports don't need the extra detail so it just creates visual clutter.
Tbh, I appreciate the extra details behind the Paris pictograms. It doesn't make sense why people want to keep seeing the same basic designs representing sports. Everybody already knows what sports there are so finding what sport it's referring to is less meaningful nowadays, and pictograms are a way for the host city to display their unique designs with special features which these Paris ones have done
As a wheelchair user, and one who does a few sports in mine to boot, I very much do not feel "more included" by being represented as a disembodied wheelchair.
Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't seen those pictograms, only the able-bodied Olympic ones, in most of the discussion about it.
yeah it’s really bad, but unsurprising given that that’s how i have been perceived by people around me all my life. just a wheelchair user and not a full human being who contains multitudes and different hobbies and interests
@@sylvy16 for sure. I’ve been called “that wheelchair over there” more often than “the woman in the wheelchair over there”…
I'm a little confused, at 2:23, was that supposed to be a wheelchair in the middle? Without the context I would've never gotten that... And I'm still not sure
@@MartijnPennings yeah, that’s a basketball wheelchair specifically there. (Which look similar to tennis wheelchairs.)
I was wondering the exact thing. I'm not too familiar with the exact differences in how the Paralympics and Olympics operate. Are there that many categorical breakdowns of each sport for the Paralympics that you couldn't just use the same symbols from the Olympics and vise versa?
I think they fail accessibility criteria...
They definitely do, they're barely understandable if you have decent enough sight, and you can see them from up close.
It's ridiculous to expect people to be able to grasp their meaning "in situ". Though truth be told, making working, usable pictograms wasn't their objectives, they just wanted them to look pretty on merch.
@@filiaaut Mission failed successfully? Those merch might be selling like hotcakes right now
@@filiaautI’ve been wearing glasses since the 4th grade and I’m having to squint to make out the very thin lines in some of those pictograms while watching this video on my phone. I can’t imagine what it must be like to try to look for and distinguish them while walking around Paris in person…
Right.. Guess it's also because of my poor eyesight, but they are so hard to tell apart from afar
If they do not I will be shocked.
I bet even for non VI people trying to parse a venue map with those is going to be a pain. You pretty muvh have to to try and focus on one quarter of the edge of them to try and figure out what sport they are.
I loved Toyko's opening ceremony where they did the vignette of live actors to depict the pictograms.
One of my favorite Olympic ceremony moments. Super cool 😎
I rewatched that video before finding this one! Bro what happened?! France fumbled the bag on that one!
The Japanese are known for being quirky and creative
@@christina.kleman Two things, as the creators of the first set of pictograms the Tokyo team really respected the pictograms and understood what the objective of them was.
Even three years later, I still re-watch that part of the Tokyo opening ceremony, as well a video of someone reproducing those icons using parts he made on a 3d printer.
They suck as coats of arms, too. The point of those were that you needed to be able to tell your soldiers from the *other guy's* soldiers at a glance over a battlefield. There's no fields of well-contrasting colors separated by white or yellow. The French cavalry will be blindsided by enemy archers when they mistake the archery logo for swimming.
Yeah, if you're going to call them coats of arms then you really should use actual design elements from coats of Symmetry isn't usually one, and distinctiveness is quite important indeed.
Yeah, they were clearly thinking of coats of arms as the obsessively overdetailed flanderization of themselves some grew into after they stopped being primarily used on the battlefield and became more about dick-measuring by how many famous families you could technically claim descent from.
Like the 1st Marquess of Buckingham’s infamous 719-times quartered mess of a coat, or Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II’s “Greater” coat of arms. But even Emperor Joseph ALSO had a LESSER coat of arms that was more legible for when he actually needed to use it as, well, ARMS.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Coat of arms (the shield type) are really carried by the bold colours and contrasting patterns, so monochrome line art really fails there.
You are confusing armoiries and blason which in English are often both translated as Coat of Arms.
Armoiries have limited colours and geometric shapes while blasons have symbols. And the designer definitely said that these are blasons not armoiries. In any case, blasons and armoiries have all evolved over time to become family symbols rather than military identifiers. It doesn't help that people confuse all these terms either.
In any case they are definitely coat of arms.
As in coat (Ecu): shields
Of
arms (armes): weapons.
Aka a material representation of the weapons of the champion in question over a shield.
For example, the royal family of England has a coat of arms with a freaking lion and unicorn that would be very hard to figure out in a battle field. So I guess coat of arms don't need to be highly distinguishable from afar
"Pictograms are outdated" says the designer who refers to the new designs as coat of arms, something that has been outdated since the middle ages ended.
That's the joke though. Do the design accomplish their informative role well ? No. But the sentence about pictograms being from the past that's why they're going for coats of arms was an obvious joke, it feels silly to attempt to mock it when criticizing the design itself makes more sense.
He doesn't actually think pictograms are outdated.
I am pretty sure coat of arms are not outdated at all. They are still used (in different forms) by the military and sports.
Do militaries not exist in your version of the world? 😂 They're not outdated at all
They're far too complex and thin. Great for ornamentation, but terrible for readability.
The axis of symmetry concept is good in theory, but it makes the ability to uniquely design and identify which sport it represents harder.
it can’t just look good, it has to look good twice at the same time. for some reason…
exactly this. when i first saw them i thought "hey, these look really nice!" but then i had to pause to really stare each one down to figure out what sport each one even represented... they're pretty for sure, but fail to do the one job they were made for. i almost wonder if this will negatively impact people's navigation of the games in person because they essentially cant rely on the pictograms to find what they need.
Yes, viewed as individuals at a decent size they are pretty. The first few examples made me want to like them. I probably would like one on a tshirt or a tote bag. But as soon as you start using them in groups or shrinking them they become indistinguishable. Which is a real failure to meet the brief when you consider wayfinding is a major purpose for their use.
@@iLOLZU42 they have more details than the Tokyo or london pictograms which makes sports that are very similar (like biking or canoeing) easier to identify. Just look at the different biking events in the Tokyo pictograms and compare with the Paris blason-logos.
They're bad at being pictograms because that's not what they are.
Even in theory, the axis of symmetry concept has problems. Since every design has at least 2-fold rotational symmetry, you're immediately wasting half your visual bandwidth. Given just how many pictograms are in the set, and the fact that they're small and monochrome, they did not have much spare bandwidth to begin with.
> We made it more inclusive
Inclusive for who!? Everyone is having difficulties understanding it.
Then it has officially done its job, no one is dis-included as everyone is struggling together. Failed successfully.
That’s Leftoids for you.
Everyone can bond across cultures by agreeing that the coats of arms are confusing
I've made thousands of icons over the years, and if I sent these to my clients the feedback would be "these are unreadable, can you simplify them". Pictograms and general design/theme are usually what I'm most hyped about with every Olympics, and these have really been a let down, especially after Tokyo's, which went full circle back to the original.
What are your favorite pictographs from the Olympics?
@@itsnathan9131 Both of Tokyo's, Rio, Athens, and Munich
@@arrioch Rios was one of my faves as well
@@arrioch it's because they're not pictograms but blason-style icons.
And they are doing a lot of important issues very well that we normally ignore in pictograms. It's a different direction which represents each sport better at the cost of legibility from a distance. Maybe there's something to learn here?
@@terry_the_terrible they objectively do not represent sports better. If you need more than half a minute to figure out what the sport is even on full view, they failed at their basic purpose. What issues are they solving?
a graphic design team calling the olympic pictograms a "relic" is wild to me, considering that they're iconic enough to be used as an exercise in my past graphic design classes (we were tasked to draw our own pictograms)
How can something so timeless become a relic!
It's kinda like calling the wheel a "relic" - sure it's old, but there's a reason we still use and improve on it...
Same. It was such a fun exercise.
I think the even larger issue is that the Olympics have been going on forever now, it's supposed to be historied and build upon itself
Can't help but hope that phrase itself become a thing of the past, along with World Cup 2026's logo.
2:15 exactly - if the overall effect of the design is literally “de-humanizing,” then choosing to center mobility aids in design removes agency from disabled athletes. their achievements are less important to the design philosophy than the aids they use, which is gross
yeah i was thinking 'oh that's not a bad idea, that means you don't need to use different pictograms for the paralympic versions of events, that does kinda feel more inclusive' and then BOOM WHEELCHAIR
The message is "it's just like *normal* fencing but they're in *WHEELCHAIRS* "
@@amytysoe2292 right, I use a wheelchair and I thought maybe he was leading-into using the same versions for both as well. But nope. We're still objectified, but now even more literally. Thanks France.
Aye, and for those who prefer person first language, this is taking the person out totally.
I wouldn’t say it is, using the mobility aid, which is a required piece of equipment, is like using a tennis racket in the tennis logo, or a bike in the biking event. All can’t be achieved without that fundamental item, and you wouldn’t use the tennis ball for tennis since it would be confused with other ball sports. Calling it dehumanising is a stretch
The 2024 "pictogram" set looks like something that would stump me in the NYTimes Tiles game
LMAOO
Trying to reinvent the wheel and making something worse for the sake of uniqueness is what we're often taught in French art schools, so yeah that's not surprising they went in this direction lol
This very much explains the entire Paris opening ceremony falling flat on it's face, except Céline Dion singing.
Paris tried to reinvent a grand stadium using the entire city instead of... a stadium. The whole thing was messy and the cameras had trouble deciding where to focus because all the things were happening all over the city.
The torch lighting itself had NOBODY there in person except the torch bearers and filming crew.
@@_Just_Another_Guy I mean, the torch lighting isn't even one, there is no fire on the olympic torch in the Tuileries gardens, just lit-up mist.
Having attended the opening ceremony, I have to say though it worked quite well, allowing much more spectators than the usual, showcasing Paris (IMO the prime funciton of that whole show), and overall tying together the whole even with its sites and the whole city.
@@_Just_Another_Guy majority of international media praised it as one of the best opening except the conservatives, so no, it doesnt fall flat just because you didnt like it lol
@@MissYoonyul Delusional. The "Last Supper" segment was panned to the point that the artistic director & organizers had to make a public apology for it. The French citizens themselves were either unimpressed, disgusted, or outright embarrased with the ceremony, saying "this isn't our culture and it's difficult to navigate around our city to get to our workplaces with the restrictions." There are numerous articles on it online. Go read them.
@@P_NG Honestly everything outside of the men wearing dresses was fine, that drag show was a farce and absolutely forced upon us, a shame really
Nice video. As a Japanese, I am very pleased to know Tokyo 1964 first introduced pictograms to the games. One thing to point out is that the Japanese language use Chinese characters which are one of the few ideograms still used today. It's just a random guess, but I feel like Japanese people are more aware of what needs to be done to tell "a meaning through simple images" as that's pretty much the concept of Chinese characters.
japanese is just traditionally really good at minimalism in general, not the western avant-garde minimalism but the mundane kind of minimalism
@@oldcowbb Sometimes. Have you seen their websites though?
I looked up the pictograms before watching the video. I was doing okay identifying them at first. Basketball, Volley- no, Beach Volleyball - I guess those dots are sand, Archery. Then we got to two pictures of canoes, five pictures of a bike, three with horses - only two of which had a helmet on them so I guess the horse competes in that last event alone?
Also, I've never watched modern pentathlon but I hope it's as exciting as its horses with swords and guns pictogram makes it look.
Yeah, plus the incorporation of the ground it's played on makes it harder to understand, in my opinion. I had no clue what was going on in the rugby one because I'm not familiar with it is a game, and don't really know what the pitch looks like, so it just looked like random shapes to me. I feel like people more familiar with each sport would appreciate the designs more, but not many people are gonna be familiar with *every* one, so it just makes it more confusing.
I just looked them up. Some are quite impossible to identify: trampoline gymnastics, break dance, shooting, trampoline diving
@@Enrique-ir4yqThe shooting one looks like some kind of camera looking at me. Completely devoid of meaning. Surfing is also very confusing, and very much agree on the trampoline one. Oof
If it weren't for the fact the names of the events were right next to the Freestyle BMX, BMX Racing, and the Mountain Biking symbols at 3:54 I wouldn't have been able to guess the difference besides "bike go upside-down", "bike is bike", and "bike go fast at angle".
calling pictograms a relic of the past and stating that the exclusion of humans is specifically for inclusivity are two of the best arguments for why these things suck. the artist could've easily said that they just enjoy pushing boundaries with their designs, but they had to be standoffish and make things up for the zero people who actually thought the old pictograms weren't inclusive enough
I totally agree with you; They work nicely as decoration, even if they don't mesh with the rest of the aesthetic of the Paris 2024 games. But function-wise, they're nightmarish and I have to take at least a few seconds to work out which is which. They perhaps should have done what London 2012 did and made separate sets for form and function. Love or hate the look of London 2012, they at least made the right choice by doing separate pictogram sets for anything they wanted to look more "pretty".
yeah I really like them as ornamentation and branding/merchandise. Just not for comunication.
Looked them up. I actually know what they are about!
They make sense after I look at them for 5 seconds. But the old ones I understand them immediately.
Being French and feeling deeply ornamental myself, I would say you're absolutely right. I have a hard time understanding, especially at a glance and definitely from a distance, what is supposed to be what. Not to mention when it describes rare sports. This is pretty at a large scale, and would work on a shirt, like you said, but not as a means of delivering information in a timely manner.
It would have been wonderful to have both these designs and more traditional pictograms at the Games.
les Parisiens are really frustrating a lot of people now 😂
In urban areas throughout France, you will find a wide variety of pictograms, including traffic signs. The pictograms are easy to understand, correct, and well-designed, which is probably due to the fact that there are many citizens of various languages and many tourists.
Recently, the French railroad company SNCF, the oldest railroad company in Europe with high goals, seems to have standardized its signs nationwide: LRT, cabs, buses, rental bicycles, rental cars, and so on. ... are clearly distinguishable by their pictograms. In addition, information on information centers, ticket offices, waiting rooms, restrooms, etc. could be included, but this information board focuses on “mobility” (although there is an introduction of stores), and the information is kindly provided from the viewpoint of travelers who have arrived at the station. It is a kind information board from the viewpoint of travelers who have arrived at the station. In the future, these various new pictograms in France will continue to be refined and updated, but they will not replace the coat of arms...
Its so ridiculous to want to get rid of the pictograms because they're out dated. Just because something is old does not make it a bad idea
I think the "coat of arms" and "axis of symmetry" ideas were somewhat interesting, but I feel like they could've been executed much better. I had also never thought of the fact that the focus on gear and the ground leads to situations like the Paralymics pictogram one you mentioned in the video.
I'll take the traditional pictograms over the Paris ones any day of the week, and I hope that the Los Angeles 2028 olympics and onwards revert to those.
I don't think axis of symmetry and sports pictogram fit very well when all it does it take away space that can be use to distinguish between sports
Imagine if LA 2028 turns the pictograms into roadsigns and the whole event had a road trip theme 😂
@@_Just_Another_Guy Huh, that doesn't sound bad at all. Road signs also used pictograms so it could work if executed properly
Honestly, I think it would be cool to have both, with the pictograms taking priority in terms of smaller symbols and navigation, while the "coats of arms" being used as a more decorative symbol and used for TV and decorative designs
The axis of symmetry idea means you lose half the available space.
leaving the wheelchair and removing the person is absolutely eyewatering levels of head-up-butt.
reminds me of my province leader saying once, "we stand with our special olympians" while standing next to a partially paralysed paralympian, who could not in fact, stand.
Sometimes the cleverest design is not the best design… but I still appreciate the cleverness and aesthetic symmetry.
Yeah, they are clever and pretty but much more difficult to interpret than pictogram from previous years!
And sometimes clever people are not very well liked, the same can go for design.
truue
These work great on banners and thumbnails about the events, but they're awful at small scales like maps and broadcasting overlays. If they wanted these coats of arms so badly they could've done them separate from the actual pictograms, or at least made simpler versions that were more readable at smaller scales
@@rubenbohorquez5673 Literally, there's ways to do what they wanted and make it work but it just seems they half-assed it.
I am calling absolute total bullshit on the “inclusivity” thing. The stick-figure like design of pictograms is as neutral representation of a human there is.
A stick figure is offensive towards obese people. Why are you so against body positivity?
I bet you didn't like the lady portraying Jesus in the OC either.
And the logo for the Paris Olympics is literally just "a lady" 👩
To be honest I'm not surprised. These scream elitism and pretentiousness and I can hear in my head those responsible saying "you plebs just don't understand our genious".
So, basically, "French"?
You mean parisian @@TheRaptorsClaw
The Mexico City Olympic pictograms at 2:56 remind me a lot of the pictograms for the various lines of the Mexico City Metro - same designer?
Yes: Lance Wyman
“Missed the mark completely”
I noticed that NBC is using these designs for interstitials and as decoration, but use their own traditional pictograms for navigation in Peacock, in the NBC Sports app, etc.
to the point that many in the US are blissfully unaware of the existence of these monstrosities
Munich 1972: Simply GOAT.
I have a soft spot for Sydney 2000 which seemed to have a REASON to change it (boomerangs, basically).
2:03 ironic considering the logo for the games is literally an icon of a woman
Considering the opening ceremony it could be a of trans woman... I'm writing this knowing I could suffer from some of the commenters...
I was so sad and immediatly tought of you when I saw those confusing pictograms.
I think the hosts expect everyone to be able to read French.
very french of them
they think it is still the Lingua Franca
Coats of arms have very similar guidelines to the pictograms you mentioned, since they were invented to be recognizable on a battlefield
As someone who is into heraldry, the statement from that director is ridiculous
They are talking about a new class of pictograms that they are calling "Blasons".
They are an homage to ecussons/coat of arms not meant to replace Coat of arms or pictograms.
The point was to show the tools of the athlete or their "arms" aka their weapons of competition rather than their gender or disability.
@@terry_the_terrible Yes I get that, but the Paris pictograms don't even resemble coats of arms. If you look at old heraldry, you see bold shapes and contrasts
The House of Bourbon used three golden lilies on a blue field, that's a great example of a coat of arms, very simple and very recognizable from far away
Royal heraldry became more complicated later on, when different arms were merged together on one shield, but if you represent a single sport with each pictogram, that shouldn't be the inspiration
Out of any set of pictograms, Mexico 1968 looks the most like coats of arms, because of how they're structured
@@DoppelpunktDDD it's hard to explain in English but what they are doing are Blasons which are different from Ecus and unfortunately both of them are translated as Coat of arms in English.
In any case they are perfectly valid traditional line art blasons although they added a diagonal line of symmetry and are using modern imagery.
You really shouldn't limit your perspectives to medieval Frank Ecus, blasons are family symbols and are still used today
@@DoppelpunktDDD And you really shouldn't be cherry picking your examples. Almost all modern blasons/coat of arms are quite complicated and have ditched the requirement of being able to recognised from 2km away.
And frankly if the 2024 Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom which features (gasp) the French words "Dieu et mon Droit" is not a legitimate enough blason for you then all I can say is that you're snobbier than the Royal family.
1:26 oh my goodness! the 1972 munich design is so clean and timeless. i'd believe if you tell me this set is designed in recent years.
The diagonally-reflected, kaleidoscope design is potentially cool. I wish they'd made so the designs simplified at small scale. If there'd been a clear core element in the centre,, something precise and readable at small scale, additional layers of ornamentation could have been added, expanding the pictogram for use at larger sizes. This could have worked much better, while still being useful AND still referencing the baroque patterns and heavy ornamentation it seems like they were going for.
If they used just one of the quadrants as an icon in space- or readability-constrained environments (e.g. the map, or the table), I think that could have worked well. A lot of the “coats of arms” seem well-suited for it, since they have a pretty recognizable graphical element somewhere, but it just gets harder to immediately pick out in the more elaborate versions.
“If there'd been a clear core element in the centre…”
Something like…a pictogram, maybe.
@@jeff__w the pictograms are really getting old tho, it's not a bad idea to change them. what was done here isnt the best tho
Of course the french would decide they're too good for pictograms
LMAO
I think it even fails the criteria of "coat of arms" or blazonry. A blazon is composed first of all by colours or tinctures on your canvas or field; then you put over it the stripes, the bends, the saltires, etc; then you put over all the ornamentations, the lions, the stars, the scallops, etc. The colours and shapes are integral for readability. Making this thing monochrome completely counters this principle.
True. By definition, a coat of arms is a description first and image second. That image can be rendered in wildly different fashion by different artists.
The pictograms make as much sense as the opening ceremony
Oh god, I didn't realize those are the official ones, I thought they were some random thing my local sports channel threw together
i was literally confused EVERY TIME looking at those in the schedule
...symmetry doesn't add any new information to the reader, it rather adds confusion since mind interprets the shape(s) as a single one. One might say there is a diagonal separation line, but even that is a problem since negative space is a much more effective (common) way of separating shapes.
On the other hand, since there is duplication of shapes they scale poorly becase the other (redundand) shape is taking up precious space at smaller scales. Basically everything could be twice as big in the same "footprint"...:/
After watching many different events I've changed my mind about the iconography.. Your points about the icons are valid when viewed in isolation. In action they have been delightful. NBC introduces each event showing the icon centre screen for enough time for the viewer to absorb the symbol and its meaning, then "explodes" the symbol out to its components, further enabling the view to understand what's coming up. Beautifully done. And I looooove the basketball court in all its Louis Vuitton glory.
Thanks for a wondeful vid. I felt well informed about the basics of iconography (I hope I'm using the right word), and prepared for what to look for in their in their actual use.
The brand director's comment all but says "being accessible isn't important, we want these to be pretty", which is a pretty disgusting but unsurprising attitude.
And they are not even pretty 🤦♂ imho
Aggressively french.
As someone who lives in Paris, this whole thing is aggressively Parisian
Parisian people have never really valued accessibility unfortunately
For my neurodivergent brain they are easier to read than little (often very stylized) pictures of athletes, but i get that they might be harder to read for others.
Playing cards are reversible for reasons that signs are not; no one is looking at signs upside down.
As a designer working for news. I needed the set to work with in our graphics. I noticed the coat of arms concept but even for me as a designer it was a guess work to identify them to use them correctly. I think you hit the mark by pointing that there was a design vocaublary that has been discarded. the elements of the whole design set are from different design strategies.
This is a prime example of falling in love with something conceptually and not being able to let go despite it being incompatible with brand standards and usability.
Google Maps can't help you find your way around backstage areas, or things that change fast or temporarily, as things do with large-scale events like the Olympics. Those designs are completely unreadable and were hard to parse on a large screen, let alone on small signage or maps.
Thanks for explaining, since I'm from Mexico I know that the pictograms had a clear function, and when I saw this monsters I was so confused, like "Aren't this supposed to be easily
comprehensible??""
When looking at the sports schedules for the day in my country, they use the pictograms. I find these difficult to understand, and I end up don't even knowing what are we competing for
"squashed cockroach graphics" OOOOH TELL EM
great analysis and critique! thanks for using the correct french pronunciation in a fun and simple way!
"Cockaroach"
Gotta love it when someone shits on a design and then proceeds to make something much, much worse. I couldn't even figure out what most of these are meant to represent when you were flashing them on the screen.
100% agree that they are decent decorations and terrible functional-objects. I can't tell what at least half of them are trying to be; it's just too noisy.
Or maybe the issue is that you're not familiar with these sports?
They certainly have enough detail to differentiate them and they're certainly more distinct from one another than the Tokyo pictograms.
They work very well as animations. Not so much in static form.
I was thinking the exact same when you referred to them as "design cockroaches".
I like contrast between Germany and France. Their designs border on being a cliche.
“Smashed cockroach graphics” is definitely what comes to my mind
I love how they look in the decorative applications, but as iconography trying to relay some information they do a awful job except in the animated transitions. At large scale on a screen with motion they read amazingly well and give a a much more interesting transition that just a coin with the pictogram on it flashing on screen.
The first feeling I had before I thinking of selling merch was that the design team was like "Fuck, they animated the pictograms, we have to do the same" and started from that point.
Linus, your content is such great quality. It’s informative, entertaining and so neat. Thank you!
Uuh, they are really nice in motion (4:53)! I like them. But yeah, they should probably have made a series of more simple, more readable pictograms to go along with their cool decorative 'coat of arms'.
Yes, the same for me. I was really surprised how well the pictogram works in motion. I'm curious how these will be used in tiktoks/shorts. Could this be the channel they've been really made for? Not for navigation, but for social media?
@@JensFrank My guess is that they were created for breakers on tv. But they would be super cool on SoMe
I loved those animations too! It feels like they were made specifically to be seen in motion. They should've made a secondary and simplified version for printed media and this whole thing could've been avoided.
As a polyglot who loves the visual representations of languages like calligraphy and pictograms, I think this is a major FAIL. Those "symmetric" signs are all too similar and confusing... You're telling me every person is expected to spend a few seconds trying to separate repeated sections and categorize dozens of diagonal lines just to decipher the meaning??? You're right... truly useless (re)design.
They look pretty, but they're supposed to be functional. At 2:41 the diving one for Tokyo 2020 is just so much easier to understand.
This video was delightful! I’m glad the yt gods served me this today. The coats of arms are horrendous 😂 what are they thinking?????? Aesthetic over absolutely everything! In my opinion, the 1968 mexico city ones worked as “disembodied” because they focused heavily on a very small but representative detail of the discipline and included human “parts” when necessary (hands holding things etc). It was abstraction to make things bigger in the square pictogram, not abstraction to create a fancy pattern
The "coat of arms" concept definitely looks better as a decorative thing... Like you said, when displayed on Olympic basketball courts, or as decorative pins, they look really nice. But as symbols meant to easily represent a certain sport, not so much
And I think that, by showing off more of the terrain these sports take place on (volley court, tennis court, road) rather than the actual playing item used in the sport (a volleyball, a tennis ball etc) it's so much harder to tell from afar what the sport actually is
I love every one of your videos! The clarity of thought and expression, the consistency between your expertise as a designer and the scope of your argument... great stuff every time. Thank you!
makes sense the differents types of styles if the differents department were working in parallel and not as a unit: the mascot, the logo, the branding, the pictograms even the medals are not in the same graphic line
as i was watching the opening ceremony it felt clunky and not at all cohesive, like they just commisioned the different acts to create their performances and slapped them together, not to mention the god-awful acoustics over the river making the show unwatchable. All i could think of was "wow, remember the beijing 2008 opening ceremony? was it good because it was one continuous show, or was that nostalgia?"
the medals resemble art deco
Tokyo 2020 pictogram introduction video is the best thing at the Olympics ever. It's hilarious and clever.
Linus, really enjoyed the punchy video lengths recently, nice work!
The "coat of arms" concept will mainly be remembered as "French being weird and different as usual", if you ask me.
dear god
art deco is many things, but pictograms they are _not_
hey hey hey these are not -pictograms- , these are _Coats of Arms_
I think you have it on the nose at 3:31 - we've come a long way from the essential nature of pictograms, but to do away with them at an institution such as the Olympics would be absurd. Still, as a novel approach to a pictogram-adjacent device they're gorgeous to look at and it's symmetry and fine detail is one to appreciate. Plus - going against its rule of being immediately recognisable - there is a reward in realising the sport and how it was designed to reflect it, very satisfying all the same.
Decorative yes, informational? Less so.
4:10 The basketball court patterning goes hard, but these make better design elements than pictograms
I kept thinking something was off and I was not finding what I wanted while navigating streaming of the games and news ect, and now I think I understand why
I genuinely really like them in any artistic and decorative context. They're very ornamental, cohesive, and creative. And the animated versions! Wonderful!
But my gosh, as traditional pictograms (like in the map at 3:48) they do a very bad job. Perhaps an alternate set which just uses one element of the larger design could've worked?
Idk about anywhere else but UA-cam TV has pictograms for most of the events when looking at the thumbnails, idk if they made them or are reusing old ones but either way it makes it so much easier to know what sport each video is when scrolling without having to read all the titles.
Love the 4:3 format, thanks for the video!
Thank you for articulating my concerns - I think the 2024 pictograms are best suited as repeating surface patterns.
I both love them and hate them simultaneously. Very much like the French
I am French and I feel the same about us, nailed it
It seems like a very French aproach. "Oh, we're so awesome new and inovative - we missed the whole mark..."
Really sad, as the pictograms are such a deep part of Olympic history. They make navigation easy and the viewing experience much more pleasant. If you have the choice between reading the name of a dicipline and looking at a little sign, you would always prefer the sign.
I really want to know what this visual identity using these motifs would have looked like applied across the games (like you say towards the end). The basketball court's floor consisting of the coat of arms is really interesting but I wonder how far that motif could be taken before becoming exhausting or overwhelming - I suppose perhaps that's the issue! Again, as you point out, it is undeniably French and interesting to imagine applied more consistently.
I really appreciate this deep dive. I super agree that it feels more form over function this time around!
I've been looking for videos talking about the design history of the Olympics so I'll be watching your pictograms video next :)
I immediately thought back to when I was a kind playing one of the olympic sports games on my 16 bit console, the pictograms were recreated easily on the little 32x32 icons, there's no way you could make any of those readable at that size. not really a problem we have nowadays but still. they fail at their purpose. pretentious junk.
I was thinking this when I tuned in for a while this morning! Great video, idk what you usually make but I'm subscribing
Didnt london 2012 have to sets of logos / pictograms? one for readability and one for larger patterns or designs or just looking cool? That idea would or worked much better here
I like the coat of arms as coat of arms. Just like having them as a national flag, it is just a bad idea, but they look great as decoration.
If other host cities want to explore coat of arms, seal, or other more elaborate designs, go for it, but keep a set of simple pictogram for navigation.
Beautifully subtle ADR
I was waiting for this video to drop!
I wished they used the Mascot pictograms more this year's Olympics as they are honestly ten times better than the ones that are being used and are more readable when condensed.
Please keep making stuff in 4:3, love the videos and love the 4:3 video as well. Fits so well on foldable phones!
not only have they missed the mark, the mark is missing them back.
(because symmetry, idk 😛)
Oh hi Mark!
Thank you for this video 😭 I was baffled when I was looking up schedules for some of the newer Olympic sports on the official website since the designs weren't clear enough for me to really catch a glance of the particular events I was searching for and the lack of human-looking elements made it harder for me to narrow my search quicker.
For a moment I thought I was looking at a video game skill tree UI set that would work for that sort of format together (and I could see how they would look nice in motion)...but for way-finding on printed banners and maps designating the events for those attending the games this Olympics? It's a learning experience, huh 😅😭
Great insights. Loving your short but more frequent uploads 😁
I love how fucking leftover the paralympics feel lmao. “Here’s a wheelchair nothin special”
when i saw the equestrian jumping pictogram i thought that they added hobby horsing to the olympics
You still cannot convince me that the official paris olympics logo was not a flame with lips
The "brand director" is just being obtusely French and seeking to set these games apart from everything before. I think we are seeing a tiny tantrum over France no longer being the diplomatic powerhouse it was in the 19th Century.
The art director is a leftist artist, openly gay and integrated in the Parisian culture scene. I can guarantee you he has no nostalgia of any “diplomatic” past, he is not a Napoleon aficionado.
He just wants to display Paris as an inclusive, culturally modern and distinctive city (not sure he managed to do it, that’s another debate).