Calgary Winter Games Candle
Design:
Client: COC
Date: 1988
Add comment February 28th, 2010
Souvenirs
Red Mitten Posters
Design: VANOC (Greg Durrell)
Client: VANOC
Date: September 2009
“When we began the Red Mitten project, we envisioned the mittens being the thread which would unite our country together. With $5 of each pair of mittens going to Canadian athletes, it was a no-brainer that the thread from the mittens could build the form of athletes.”
Greg Durrell
Add comment February 27th, 2010
Montreal 1976 – Souvenir Plate
Design: Graphics and Design Directorate
Client: COJO 76
Production: Royal Copenhagen
Date: 1976
Souvenirs from the Montreal Olympics look like the Games in transition. There’s a deliberate tension between tradition and modernism; some of the designs emphasized the classical, athletic aspects of Games, while others showed off the flair of the city’s new architecture and youth culture. Drawing on International Style typography (and owing an obvious debt to Otl Aicher’s designs for the 1972 Munich Games), the Montreal Games were permeated by a distinctive ‘Canadian modernism’. This graphic style was applied to a huge range of objects from posters to luggage, disposable lighters to high-end ceramics from regal brands like Wedgwood and Royal Copenhagen. Montreal’s Graphics and Design Directorate oversaw and approved every application, ensuring that each piece inherited the same well considered qualities.
- Michael Erdmann & Todd Falkowsky
1 comment February 26th, 2010
Calgary 1988 – Skating Star Barbie
Design: Mattel
Client: OCO/Mattel
Date: 1988
Calgary was the beginning of a few trends that would come to dominate Olympic design. In contrast to Montreal’s International Style, these games returned to a regional aesthetic, referencing local forms and Western themes. Applying now familiar marketing tools, Calgary abandoned the exclusiveness of past Olympics and positioned the games as a mass culture event. Popular brands like Mattel, Coca-Cola and more, participated in the games like never before.
-Michael Erdmann & Todd Falkowsky
Add comment February 26th, 2010
Petro-Canada Olympic Glassware Ad
Design:
Client: Petro-Canada, OCO/VANOC
Date: 2009
The Petro-Canada glassware campaign exemplifies Calgary’s populist approach to the Olympics. In the lead up to the 1988 Games, Petro-Canada launched an extensive campaign, selling a line of souvenir glassware in support of Canada’s Olympic athletes. The project was a massive sensation, selling more than 50 million glasses – almost double the Canadian population in 1988. Despite this success, the design itself was rather humble. Perhaps this contributed to the accessibility of the campaign, but in the decades that followed the Games, the glasses have become ubiquitous dust collectors. Petro-Canada had significantly lower expectations for the 2010 glass campaign, but this recent television commercial perfectly captures the phenomenon.
-Michael Erdmann
1 comment February 26th, 2010
Vancouver 2010 – Mascot Backpacks
Design: HBC, Meomi
Client: HBC, VANOC
Date: 2010
Michael Francis McCarthy - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sagamiono
2 comments February 26th, 2010
Vancouver 2010 – Maple Syrup
Design: HBC, Meomi
Client: HBC, VANOC
Date: 2010
Michael Francis McCarthy - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sagamiono
While the quality of design has improved, in many ways Vancouver’s souvenirs continue the populist tradition of the Calgary games. Rather than focusing on the Games themselves with representations of athletic endeavor (once the norm), the emphasis today is on desirability and capturing the spirit of the event. In addition to the now familiar blue and green colour scheme and those adorable mascots, we find strategic dashes of Canadiana. Well known Canadian designs, including the toque (knitted cap), parka and knitted sweater (unfortunately not a real Cowichan sweater), and even products like maple syrup are all given the Olympic treatment – an aesthetic that’s distinctive, yet familiar and accessible to global audiences.
-Michael Erdmann & Todd Falkowsky
1 comment February 26th, 2010
Vancover 2010 – Torchbearer’s Mittens
Design: Vivienne Lu and Tu Ly
Client: HBC/VANOC
Date: 2009
Originally created for the official torchbearer’s uniform, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s red mittens have become the much-talked-about hit of the Games. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why the design has struck such a chord, though the strategically placed maple leaf – hidden inside the palm and only revealed with a wave or a victorious cheer – seems to strike the right humble/patriotic balance with Canadian audiences. Too bad the patriotism didn’t carry through their production; like most contemporary souvenirs, the mittens are manufactured in China.
-Michael Erdmann
1 comment February 26th, 2010
A Path of Northern Lights Book
Design:
Client: VANOC and Wiley
Date: 2010
Add comment February 23rd, 2010
