(Application of Modernism)

1972 Munich Olympics is a disputing one that left us gray memory. Many people don’t want to recall that sad period of time. Well, let’s just forget about all the political aspect, and only focus on the design. Munich Olympic logo is an outstanding work of modernism in mid 20th century. It is simple in color and style, but profound in meanings. The alternate of black and white creates a strong visual comparison; the revolving treatment forms a round geometry with a central perspective, which is abstract in meaning. It symbolizes a shining and bright Munich.

The Industrial Revolution has great impact on designing style; the Modernism created by Bauhause College became the fashionable design style of the globe. It abandoned the miscellaneous decoration, and advocated the pattern of simplicity and purity. Modernism preferred symbolic visual elements like regular geometry and abstract color to generate the world.

At present, Modernism is still an important designing skill in some cases. For logo designers, it is applicable to choose this style if you want to achieve an abstract and profound effect.

(Color Combination)

Sydney use 3 colors to form an image of running athlete relaying the Olympic torch. Blue carve out the form of Sydney Opera House; red and yellow shape the running image. Each color of the logo has symbolic meanings: blue refers to the blue harbor; yellow represents sun and beach; red means the native culture. The logo keeps the color balance with warm and cold color combination.

Color is the soul of logo. Each color represents certain kinds of meanings. Before choosing any color, you need to understand the meanings of the color. Here are the basic meanings of basic colors (ref: Meaning of colors by Crystal-cure):

• Red: action, confidence, courage, vitality,
• Pink: love, beauty,
• Brown: earth, order, convention,
• Orange: vitality with endurance,
• Gold: Wealth, prosperity, wisdom,
• Yellow: wisdom, joy, happiness, intellectual energy,
• Green: life, nature, fertility, well being,
• Blue: youth, spirituality, truth, peace,
• Purple: Royalty, magic, mystery,
• White: Purity, Cleanliness,
• Black: Death, earth, stability, and
• Gray: Sorrow, security, maturity

(Skills of Natural Features)

After nearly 100 years development, Olympic back to its birth place. Athens left us a deep impression both in opening ceremony and Olympic logo. Check for the Olympic logos before 2004, it is easy to find difference. The olive branch looks like a pleasant children drawing, it represents victory and humanism; the blue background is different in depth which shows the open mind of the Mediterranean. The whole logo conveys the sense of natural ease and pleasant.

Personally speaking, Athens Olympic logo is a milestone in designing skills. Compare to the frosty, mechanic of modernism, it is natural and intimate. So I’d like to call it natural skill. Instead of the regular geometric drawing, it emphasizes of using natural features, such as the random of handwriting, the sensation of pencil sketch or the irregularity of image. The natural skill expresses an open and creative mind that makes your work vivid and friendly.

For logo designers, it is common to design on computer; however, it is important to get rid of the cold and mechanic of machine. A natural mind creates a natural skill; a natural skill creates atmosphere of ease and freedom, that’s something make your work stand out from the crowd.

(Dimension)

Turin Winter Olympic logo is special. Compare to the other ones, I think Turin is special in dimension. The logo is inspired from Mole Antonelliana – the most famous landmark of Turin. The designer endows the building with icy mountain image which indicates Winter Olympics; meanwhile, it could be view as a net that gather the people of the world. The logo looks like a real dimensional mountain top rather than a plain graphic triangle. It’s just like you look up to appreciate the high mountain – an excellent dimension application.

Dimension application is frequently used in logo design; it helps you to achieve vivid visual effect. As a logo designer, you need to be familiar with different effects to achieve dimension. Different combinations of line, shape, color, light and shadow can create different effects. You need to radiate your mind through different practices to achieve the best result.

(Cultural Elements Adoption)

Beijing Olympics is one of the greatest Olympic Games in human history, and its logo is the most unique one, because it creates strong oriental cultural atmosphere. Each part of the logo contains rich cultural meanings. The logo was inspired from traditional elements that only exist in China: the Chinese seal, Chinese character and Chinese calligraphy. They have strong cultural signals that carve the ancient eastern civilization. The red seal catch you eye at the first sight; the hollow stroke in the middle is a style of Chinese calligraphy which shapes the character that symbolizes Beijing; most importantly, the character seems like a dancing person that makes the whole logo dynamic. Beijing Olympic logo succeeds in using cultural elements to demonstrate the attitude and personality of whole country.

Culture is unique. Wherever you come from, you must have your own cultural background. So it is a good idea to inspire from culture. It contains something that tells who you are, from literature to religion, from architecture to drama; it is an inspiring storage for design. So the duty of logo designer is to find out cultural elements that exclusively represent the features of you or your client. Along with that perspective, your design often develops into a unique and special one.

(Transformation)

London Olympics emblem was designed by WolffOlins. They adopt the number 2012 as basic elements of the emblem, and transform the shape of the number to achieve a modern and meaningful effect. It expresses the idea of 2010 London Olympics that encourages all youth participate in the game regardless of region and nationality.

The most attractive impression of this logo is the transformation of shapes. The designer delicately transformed the numbers into abstract ones which bring huge visual shock that initiate your imagination.

Transformation is another important skill in design. In order to achieve special effect, it is a good idea to change the shape of number, text and image. Although there are different ways to transform the shape, the key factor is you need jump out from the regular thinking model, that’s something lead to a special effect.