Global Graphic Design

So, I've put on some events in my day, albeit nothing even remotely close to the mammoth task of the Olympics, but events that need a lot of graphics. And graphics that you don't even think about until you are actually putting on some shindig. Just a partial list would include the usual suspects: an event logo, a website, brochures, direct mail pieces getting them to the event and then once they show up - signage, signs for every room, signs at the event center, schedule of daily events, name badges, book binders, kit covers, CDs, logos for venues, multimedia graphics for presenters, shirts and hats with logos, set design and so on. I know that putting on the Olympics here in Salt Lake took years of preparation and that graphic designers were flown in from all over the world, paid exceedingly well and got to work on one of the most creative opportunities of their career. And our little city did a great job if I do say myself.

But I digress. With my limited experience I have been watching the Beijing Olympics unfold with a sense of wonderment at all the eye-catching and well-thought out graphics. My students know that I love a story behind designs. If you can explain why you’ve made a creative decision, and back it up with research – you’re halfway home.

Link to Beijing explanation of Logo

And I always say when you design logos, make it a simple, vector image as you never know where the logo sill show up

And it's not just the main logo, but the icons for all of the sports. Again, sticking to the basic rules of logo design - lines with hard edges, no gradients, drop shadows or the like.
And that's just the logos and icons, not to mention the tickets, the name badges, the press passes, the fax sheets, the forms - all the minutiae that goes unnoticed but that a fellow graphic designer can appreciate. Maybe not all the glamorous pieces, like the full building posters in Salt Lake, or the Olympic torch itself but work that needs to be designed nonetheless. Hey, I'll take credit for any part of great design -how about you??

Happy Designing!!