Don’t Blame It On Rio

The 2016 Summer Olympics are now history. And despite the Russian doping scandal, the problems with the water in the pools (and in the bay), and the threat of Zika among other things, for the most part, Rio (like every Olympics) will be remembered for its high points and, hopefully, not for the low ones. Simone Biles (along with the rest of the Final Five) was amazing. Usain Bolt was amazing. Katie Ledecky was amazing. Michael Phelps was amazing. The US 4×100 women’s relay team (Allyson Felix, English Gardner, Tianna Bartoletta and Tori Bowie) was amazing. Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin were amazing (if those names are not ringing a bell, read about them here). The Rio Olympics’ logo was amazing.

Yes, the logo was amazing. Because let’s face it, most Olympic logos are, well, crap. Generally, I don’t go out of my way to criticize the work of fellow designers. You never know what the client’s input was and designing for a committee is never easy. Too many cooks might spoil the broth, but I think we can safely assume that too many committee members will almost always destroy any decent design. But that didn’t happen in Rio. Plastered all over the venues, the medals, the news coverage, even used as inspiration for the supports for the balance beam, the Rio logo managed to do a lot of heavy lifting and still won the race, took the gold, and made it look easy.

Don’t believe me. Just consider some of the competition. Looking back at some recent options, I don’t find much to like. Sochi 2014—wow, that is ugly. And it is surpassed in ugliness only by London 2012. As for the Vancouver 2010 logo—would it have been possible to create a more unathletic figure? Apparently, the answer is “yes.” Because the logo man depicted in Beijing 2008’s offering isn’t going to be winning any race any time soon. What is the abstract shape from Torina (AKA Turin) 2006 supposed to represent? I have no clue. Athens 2004 uses an olive wreath awarded to ancient Olympic winners (and winners in the Athens’ Summer Games). They have had over two thousand years to figure this out and that is the best olive wreath they could come up with. Really? Looking forward the only bright spot on the horizon might be Beijing in 2022. Until then we have Tokyo 2020, yuck. PyeongChang 2018, double yuck.

So the Rio logo, really is amazing. It is fun and vibrant. Inclusive and joyful. It shows the best that the games can be—you know, that part about coming together and picking each other up (Abbey and Nikki, I am looking at you), about the whole being greater and stronger than the sum of its parts. The Rio Olympics may not have been perfect, but (IMHO) their logo is about as good as it gets. So what does it take to create a successful Olympic logo. This article details the thought process that went into the Rio 2016 logo and its accompanying typeface. And for a bit more insight, check out this article, because, in the end, the Rio Olympics (and its logo) really was amazing.