Designer Reacts to Paris 2024 Olympic Pictograms
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- OLYMPICS PICTOGRAMS - As a graphic designer, I review the pictograms illustrating each sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics. I look at individual pictograms (you may think of them as icons) and also compare this set to designs for previous Olympics, and discuss what makes this year’s designs pretty unique relative to what’s been done before. Learn and laugh, as this is just a fun graphic design video.
I'm not a design professor, but this video may be of interest for students of graphic design or just anyone interested in design and visual communication, logo design, or the art and aesthetics of sports and big events.
EDLUNDART is a boutique design and animation studio in New York City, and now also a UA-cam channel for artists and creative people featuring me, a random guy in a hat but also variously a graphic designer, animator, artist, Art Director and Creative Director entertainingly talking my way through videos on art, design, animation, culture, creativity, and business from the perspective of an artist entrepreneur and small business owner.
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I personally don’t like the Paris 2024 pictograms at all. I find them too busy and hence not always as easily recognisable right at first sight
That is my main critique as well, and it's been interesting to see how downplayed they've been in the Olympics coverage I've watched (on Peacock). And, in the peacock interface, when selecting a sport, they don't use these at all! They use a set of more traditional "human bodies"-based pictograms. Anyway, thanks for watching and commenting!
They honestly just look cool. And would have been fire as part of the iconography. Along side actual pictogram used on maps.
I feel like most of thoses are amazing pieces that represent well the sport. But shoudltn be used as the pictogram that's supposed to look discernable from affar .
I think they missed the point of the use of the pictograms, they are very difficult to read, ive rather wanna se the strange mascot doing the pose of the sports 😅
Hah, good point, I kinda miss the prominence of mascots to be honest.
The athletics one is pretty lazy on the shoes. they should imply speed, they should have bended them near the toes to represent the force when sprinting.
Yeah, very good point about the lack of a bend in the shoes. This expresses something I was reacting to in general about these, which is that the drawings are sort of stripped of style, similar to roadside signage iconography - a bit "mechanical," rather than imbued with more "humanity" to put it that way. I think for sure it's a deliberate choice, but one can debate whether it's the right choice.
Or even adding some spikes to the underside of the shoes would diffuse the ‘business casual’ reading (but would maybe read more as football/soccer boots)
My opinion: Sports is to admire the amazing motion of human bodies.
But there is no human body expressed on Paris pictogram. That's why we feel this "diagonal" idea is failed..
A sensible opinion - there certainly is a distance inserted by the schematics here. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Personally, I don't hate them, but I just think they're too busy, and a bit hard to read. I think Tokyo 2020 Pictogram's is perfect, and I love them to death
Reason and restraint, right here on UA-cam! 👍 Thanks for tuning in.
I really like the breaking one, though I think you missed that it’s supposed to be a DJs turntable (live DJs provide the music for the dancer/athletes)
I quite like them as a unified set of decorative elements (especially used at the venues) but as useful and pragmatic pictograms for way finding and easily distinguishing the sports, they fall short, especially when made small and out all together like on a website or list
Ah, if that’s a turntable, I definitely missed it! Anyway, I agree with you completely about the set as a whole and the usage. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Not only does it not function as a pictogram, but even if it were not a pictogram, it would be poorly designed. I don't think it is wise to draw more tools and balls than are used in competition to ensure symmetry.
You can tell the graphic design campaign for Paris Olympics was directed by a Nostalgic person. Not only this pictograms were meant to represent 18th 19th centrury design but also the barriers who covered the walls and gadgets in the stadiums. They were all showings hearts, eifel tower, the color lila and light blue. Dots on a flat color like what the Royals used to have. I think ot was invasive, and not so much fun tbh. Pictograms are a reflection of that concept. For example if you ask me, the best graphic design campaign of any 21st century olympics are Rio and Tokio. They were visually amazing. The dark blue from tokio was solid, sober and strong.
I agree both Rio and Tokyo were strong. Interesting perspective regarding the nostalgia argument. For me it’s a mix of perhaps some conservatism (in terms of favoring essentially decoration over function) but also a certain kind of boldness (dismissing the importance of pictograms and opting for this more graphically mechanical approach). Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and thanks for watching!
Artistic gymnastics, I mean the pictogram, is difficult to understand.
You're not wrong... I did find the beams a little hard to read at first, and I'm also not sure about the gap between the rings and their "ropes," nor the way they are placed in space - you would expect rings to be paired so that their ropes were parallel. That being said, once I got used to the pictogram and the rules that govern the set of them, I didn't hate this one. But is it the best it could be? I think we probably agree on the answer.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I love the uniqueness in these pictograms despite their difficulty to read. They brought out the character of the city and the essence of France which is to innovate and think out of the box. It was refreshing to see something different and beyond Stick Figures and it looked amazing on the venues.
Thanks for sprinkling in your positive thoughts - and thanks for watching!
For the surfing pictogram, I think they're afraid to insinuate "something" if it only contains 4 petals... But overall, these pictograms are "this" close to evoke some WWII vibes with those diagonal crosses... 😅
Hah, yes, that issue definitely crossed my mind too - certain choices create a dangerous game for a designer!
Removing the person from the pictogram inherently makes it harder to depict the action that person is making. All of these pictograms look kind of stiff and unnecessarily complex.
Overall the designs across the board have been kind of less fun this time. I preferred the designs used in 2016 and 2012 (I have some bias for the latter though) when it comes to logos, mascots, etc. To me, 2024 has too much of a focus on saying “Paris is beautiful and romantic” which I feel has little relevance to the Olympics, and to me a lot of the designs are just kind of… inoffensive, forgettable. 2012 had an especially kind of edgy design with bright neon colours, made to reflect the UK urban youth and sports culture. It wasn’t about London, it was about people.
At the time 2012s design was heavily criticized, but as someone who was growing up at the time I loved it, because it resonated and represented me *personally*. It was edgy, bold, sharp, with a look that was reminiscent of shattered glass and graffiti. It felt way more representative than any romantic scene of the London skyline.
I thought it was interesting how much hate the London designs got. I wasn’t a huge fan myself, but I liked that it was at least bold and a little different. The boldness felt quite London, too. It’s cool to hear from someone who felt those designs really resonated.
Thanks for adding your voice.
As a former wrestler i really dislike the wrestling pictogram. It feels super lazy to just throw the leotards on a mat and call it a day. Why did they not depict it in the same way they did other combat sports like Judo and Taekwondo?
Yeah, the wrestling one is among the weakest pictograms here, I think. It’s been cool to hear from people who are passionate about particular sports, and getting their takes. Thanks for chiming in!
Aaand the whole thing about "not needing something for Paralympics" is sadly null and void, they show the mobility aid, literally removing the person and identifying them by their challenge
A couple of people have raised this point, and I think it’s a good one. Thanks for adding your voice.
First time I’ve seen these. A good critique.
Thanks! It will be interesting to see them in context during the games.
11:49 they are blades are they represent the three different styles of fencing foil,epee and sabre
The left is epee blade
Middle is foil blade
The right is sabre
Dude, did you even watch the Tokio pictograms beforehand? 3x3 was also there.
Forget it, they literally describe that the idea of the designs was to be inspired in coat of arms (but probably actually on merch)
It sounds like you are criticizing something, but I'm not completely sure what. I talk about both the 3x3 pictogram and the fact that these are based on coat of arms designs. I suppose you wanted me to be better prepared, which is fair enough, although I like the energy of doing this a little bit off-the-cuff. You're right that one of the considerations behind this set of pictograms was the idea that they can work on t-shirts, etc. That's kind of a cool extension of the use for these, but I wouldn't primarily judge them based on that usage.
Anyway, I appreciate your comment and thanks for watching!
Really enjoyed this video, and agreed with you on a lot points.
In the Rhythmic Gymnastics one I think I understand why they didn't complete the inner circle (so it doesn't look too busy?) but I would've preferred otherwise. I used to train in the sport as a kid and it took even me a moment to realize what element is "missing". Maybe a closed circle in the middle and looser loops or less of them for the ribbon. Also, off-set balls like here and volleyballs kinda bother me, not sure why.
Thanks for watching and commenting, your username says GO but you’re an OG. 😀 Did the Rhythmic Gymnastics “bowling pins” look good to you? I could simply Google them (and learn what they’re called), but it’s more fun to ask the audience.
@@edlundart in the context I think it's clear enough to pass. They're called clubs officialy :)
Personally I would make the tips more narrow and maybe rounded, or maybe just the whole "head" part smaller - the proportion is indeed a bit off, which is probably why you thought of oars and bowling pins :)
Ah yes, clubs, of course! Thanks for the insight about them. I had fun calling them oars and stuff. 😄
I think they were terrible. I only recognized some sports but only because after watching the olympics for a while I memorized how they looked, but not because I could naturally get the sport by the shape of the pictogram. Some of them were simply imposible to tell what sport it was. In Tokio 2020 they were super wasy to understand, so much they did a segment of the oppening with a guy replicating them
11:49 they are blades are they represent the three different styles of fencing foil,epee and sabre
The left is epee blade
Middle is foil blade
The right is sabre
Personally as a fencer and designer this a very common and clear design for fencing
Thanks for coming in with expertise! Appreciate the insight, and thanks for watching and commenting. Enjoy the Games!
If you can get trampoline gymnastic without being told or reading the letters "trampoline gymnastics" is because you either designned the pictogram yoursel or stared with your wife for 3 minutes discusing which sport it could be. 😂
LOL! It is VERY abstract. I still say it’s a microchip-based sport 😂
Yoo man from 1920s came back to future just to critique Paris Olympic pictograms
Happy to oblige 😁
To me these are utterly horrible. They are hard to impossible to read at smaller sizes and the point of a pictogram is to signify something simply and effectively. This is not doing that. What annoys me most is, that the brand director of Paris 2024 has said publicly that 'pictograms are a relic of the past'. He then goes on to call these new ones 'coats of arms'. Which isn't a relic of the past? Mechanically, there are many inconsistencies here that you also pointed out. The line thicknesses, water waves not being smoothly curved. Some ideas, like the negative space in the equestrian or boxing pictograms are good but not used in other places. I think you could show some of these to 100 people and almost nobody would get what they mean. Also, on the topic of inclusivity: If you look at the pictograms for the Paralympic games, the ones like the Badminton one you showed are not changed. ONLY the ones that happen to use a shoe or some other equipment are changed. The most absurd ones to me are the wheelchair ones, where there is one (or two) empty (!) wheelchairs in the center. So how is it inclusive to remove the person and then only show their gear to emphasize the 'difference'? Wouldn't it be more inclusive to just have a hand score a point in basketball for example?
Ultimately, what annoys me the most is the arrogance of statements like the one mentioned above. There is an amazing history in Olympic pictogram design and it seems like they felt like they couldn't take the challenge to innovate on what was there. They instead decided to call these amazing design from the likes of Mexico 1968, Munich 1972 or even Lillehammer 1994 'relics' and then produce something that looks like it's the combined effort of a 2nd semester graphics design class.
also, advertising the fact that this garbage was animated is the icing on top. Compare this to the Tokyo 2020 olympics and the amazing reveal of the pictograms they did.
Thanks so much for adding your voice - I think you make very good points about the inclusivity bit, as well as the whole pictogram vs coat of arms thing. And, of course, we agree on the readability and coherence of the symbols too. I personally think they are sort of a fun decorative addition to the overall branding effort, but they don’t work great as pictograms, and I’m not convinced that pictograms are relics either. Anyway, thanks for watching and commenting!
@@TheGodlike300 tokyo 2020 just looked like kids drawings. For half of them it was not even possible to know precisely the event!
I think the razon why in surfing is with 5 points instead of 4 is because it would look like the nazi simbol
20:15 Agree with most of your video, but by the way these volleyballs are completely common in professional volleyball, as a volleyball fan i've recognised them immediately, they're mikasa balls. They're used in other competitions too, like the VNL.
I figured this would be the case, thanks so much for the insight! And thanks for watching!
There's no such thing as demonstration sport anymore lol whatever is included are official olympic sports/events
Oh, interesting. That makes it seem riskier to add a sport!
In fact, sometimes it happens to have demonstration sports. Karate on Tokyo 2020 is an example.
The 2024 pictograms are demonstrating far more creativity, after seeing the ones from the previous games at the end of the video. Just my point of view. Thanks for the video.
Nice to hear from someone who favors the Paris pictograms! I personally agree with those who say they don’t work great as pictograms, but I appreciated their boldness in trying another direction. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Those pictograms are especially nice when you see how they animated them
Yes, I agree that they come into their own more as animated graphics.
I think most of them are awful, for their purpose. Having said that, I have the wrestling one on the shirt. Now I kind of like it because it’s different, but when I first saw it I was disappointed. There is no way to look at it and know it is wrestling
Yes, I thought the wrestling one was among the least understandable ones - but I can see enjoying these symbols on clothing and as decorative elements elsewhere. More people seem to approve of their use in that context than as actual informative pictograms. Rock on in your shirt, and thanks for watching and commenting!
Hmm I think artistic swimming looks fantastic as is with water lines also giving impression of arms and legs.
That one is for sure among my favorites!
awful icons
I like the pictograms. I like the symetry aspect. Although it is a bit odd how it's a completely different artistic direction from the rest of the olympics. But I like them, they are my favourite
The breaking looks more T&F to me because they have a reference to the throwing events. Overall, I absolutely hated these “pictograms” because they are hard to read for the general public. Also, they could be hard to understand due to language differences and vision.
Love your explanations, though maybe you can watch a bit more sports worldwide for the insights. 3x3 has been a medal event since Tokyo, and Breaking is also introduced as a medal event in Paris. You GOTTA see the 3x3 games, they are fast and exciting!
Hahah, a totally fair critique, though I like doing these videos a little off-the-cuff. I’ll be wrong quite often, but I try to let the audience know that 😃. Anyway, thanks, I’ll have to watch some 3x3 clips!
Interesting. I never knew these were called pictograms.
Thanks for tuning in!
love the way you talk
Hah, thanks - I’ll keep talking!