Olympic Design: Canada’s Posters
SI.com has enlisted the help of the bloggers behind Canadian Design Resource to author a series of posts on the design spirit of their country’s three Olympic Games: Montreal 1976, Calgary 1988, and Vancouver 2010. Today, CDR’s Michael Erdmann and Todd Falkowsky take a look at Canada’s Olympic posters:
Long before the Olympics became the media spectacle we know today, posters were a critical medium for promoting and documenting the Games. From this practice evolved a remarkable tradition of poster design, and Canada’s greatest contribution came from the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Under orders from the Montreal organizing committee (Le Comitee Organisateur des Jeux Olympiques je 1976, known as COJO 76), the Graphics and Design Directorate designed dozens of official posters and lithographs, defining the image of the ‘76 games.
The Montreal posters below are from the first official series, which illustrated eight “themes”: Invitation, Flag, Mascot, Olympic Flame, International Youth Camp, Kingston ‘76 (Sailing venue), Olympia and Montreal, and Olympic Stadium.
Montreal 1976 Olympic Poster: Invitation
George Huel & Pierre-Yves Pelletier, Graphics and Design Directorate, COJO 76
© COJO 76
Invitation depicts the Olympic rings moving together from every direction, symbolically “inviting athletes from all continents to the 1976 Olympic Games.”
Montreal 1976 Olympic Poster: Mascot
Yvon Laroche, Pierre-Yves Pelletier & Guy St.Arnaud, Graphics and Design Directorate, COJO 76
© COJO 76
Montreal 1976 Olympic Poster: International Youth Camp
Raymond Bellemare & Pierre-Yves Pelletier, Graphics and Design Directorate, COJO 76
© COJO 76
This very unusual Olympic poster celebrates International Youth Camp, an unofficial tradition started by King Gustav V at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. The headline and main logo may seem a bit lost in the denim, but that’s fine, because the main event is the button collection. Each pin is a code, speaking to youth culture and values (“love, equality of the sexes, return to nature, the search for spiritual values, personal harmony, and the need for brotherhood”). The harmonica in the pocket is a nice detail, too. It’s an interesting concept that was very well-executed.
Calgary 1988 Olympic Poster
OCO, 1988
© OCO/COC
A glowing Olympic logo hovers over the city skyline in the official Calgary ’88 poster. While the logo itself carries on the clean graphic qualities of the ’76 Olympic designs, its application here is thoroughly in the style of the 1980s.
Calgary 1988 Olympic Posters: Welcome
OCO, 1988
© OCO/COC
The interlocking letter forms (Os for Olympics, Cs for Calgary) and the 88s reference both the Olympic rings and the Calgary ’88 theme, “Come Together in Calgary.”
Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games Posters
VANOC, 2010
© VANOC/COVAN
The official Vancouver 2010 posters distill the detailed graphic identity VANOC developed for the Games. Reaction to the identity has been mixed; while some appreciate the use of locally sourced textures and reference materials, others have described the style as “corporate clip art.”
Designed as companion pieces, the posters form a single image when hung as a set.
(Coming up tomorrow from Canadian Design Resource: A look at the official torches of Canada’s Olympic Games. Yesterday, they covered Canada’s emblems.)
Is there a button featuring a stylized pot leaf on the Montreal Youth Camp poster? Right above the Smiley Face button. Awesome.
I have to say this is the best Winter Olympics blog I’ve found so far. The writing and research elevate it above all the other ones out there. This post is a case in point – you wouldn’t find this much historical detail elsewhere on the web.
[...] blog I’ve found to date is written by Luke Winn for SportsIllustrated.com. And it has a particularly interesting post today showing the posters promoting the previous games in Canada: Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988. I [...]
Response to Stephen L.
I love that the poster designers included all the symbols of the time/generation that this Olympics took place in (including the pot leaf). It is sad that today we see that as risky, or creatively vulnerable. Todays graphics are strategically aimed at commerce, rather than at cultural resonance. This work reminds of a time when some organizations used graphic communication to promote ideals and fit. Pretty piece that is outside of the usual cannon of Olympic design.
[...] to their coverage of the event. Be sure to check out Part I: Canada’s Emblems, Part II: Canada’s Posters, and Part III: Torches and [...]