All The Olympic Posters Throughout History & The Story Behind Those 5 Rings

above: The very first Olympiad Games poster*

The 2008 Olympiad games begin this week in Beijing and so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you some fun Olympic design history as well as some present Olympic design-related news all this week. Today we'll start with the Olympic Posters, and the meaning behind the five rings.

*No official poster was made for the 1896 Olympic Games, but the cover page of the official report is often used to refer to the Games of the I Olympiad. The inscription "776-1896", like the drawing as a whole: the Olympic stadium in a newly designed horseshoe shape, the Acropolis, the girl personifying the goddess Athena and presenting the branch of wild olive intended for the victor, mark the bond between the Games of Antiquity and the first Games of the modern era.

Below are the posters from both the Summer and the Winter Olympiad Games throughout history. Click on the images below to enlarge.













UPDATE - The official 2008 and 2012 Olumpics Posters:


A collection of official posters from past Olympic Games will go on sale here on August 5. Approved by the International Olympic Committee, each set contains 25 posters, covering every edition of the Olympic Games from 1896 to 2004.


Printed on acid-free paper, each poster measures 500mm X 700mm.
Buy them here after August 5th.


A little background on the Olympic Rings for you:

"These five rings -- blue, yellow, black, green and red -- represent the five parts of the world now encompassed by Olympism and ready to compete against each other. Moreover, the six colours (including the white background) thus combined represent those of all nations, without exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the French, English, American, German, Belgian, Italian and Hungarian tricolours, the yellow and red of Spain are side by side with the new Brazilian and Australian flags, the old Japan and the new China. It is a true international emblem."
Coubertin (Selected Writings II, p. 460, 1913).

As an image of Olympism, Coubertin thought the rings had deep significance: that of the union between men. He multiplied the image to create a total of five rings. He designed and commissioned the Olympic flag to mark the 20th anniversary of the IOC's founding, on 23rd June 1914 in Paris. Coubertin never said nor wrote that he saw a link between the colours of the rings and the continents. For him, the five rings represented the union of the five continents, but the colours were merely those that appeared in all the different national flags at the time.

Did You Know?


The results of a survey carried out in six countries (Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Great Britain and the USA) in 1995 showed that 92% of those questioned correctly identified the Olympic rings, which made them the most-recognized symbol in the world. They were followed by the McDonald's and Shell emblems (88%), Mercedes (74%) and the United Nations (36%). source: SRI Sponsorship Research International

Short On Space? Need Art & Furniture? How About buroJET's Plano Series?

Below are images from the "Plano" series by Dutch designer Egbert-Jan Lam (of buroJET) A collection of flat furniture that explores the relationship between Art and Design. Not only that, but it's a great space saving device! Produced and developed by buroJET.




For info or sales, please contact them here.

buroJET
Egbert-Jan Lam

Dijkstraat 106
6828 JS Arnhem
The Netherlands

UK Artist Barnaby Barford's Sick & Twisted Ceramics

Above: Mary Had A Little Lamb

Barnaby Barford is an artist whose produced works you've probably seen on blogs, in design magazines and in the hippest of stores. But as an artist, his ceramic work may not be as familiar to you.

He creates unique narrative pieces using primarily found objects (both mass-manufactured and antique figurines) and turns them into sinister, sardonic and humorous sculptures. Well-known sentimental figurines from companies like Disney, for example, become characters in his twisted narratives, taking on an explicitly vulgar appearance that express some fundamental truths.

Here are a few of his one-off pieces from the collection he calls Private Lives:


Above: She Needs More Than A Makeover


Above: Imposter!


Above: Dear lord, for what we are about to receive make us truely (sic) thankful


Above: French Kiss


Above: J'adore Le Coq D'or


Above: Stick That On You Tube!


Above: That Wasn't In The Script!

As well as creating his one-off pieces, Barford has made projection based installations, worked with prestigious companies including Nymphenburg and has designed products for Thorsten Van Elten.

You may already be familiar with some of these:

Above: Stamp Cups designed with Valeria Miglioli for Thorsten Van Elten.

Above: Solitaire Olive Bowl, O's and X's Ashtray, Battleships Napkins designed with André Klauser for Thorsten Van Elten.



Above: Limited edition set of Global Service (World Plates) in blue or pink, designed for Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg, Münich.

About Barnaby Barford:

Barnaby Barford (b. 1977) graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2002. He has been the subject of several solo exhibitions in the UK, and has shown in major exhibitions in the US and Japan. In 2004 he was named Young Designer of the Year by Wallpaper magazine

His most recent exhibit:

From June 24 to October 15, 2008 the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud is hosting an exhibition entitled Petits bouleversements au centre de la table (Minor revolutions at the center of the table).

Barnaby Barford

12 Designers Create Olympic Fashion To Benefit Quake Victims: Synergy In Fashion

To celebrate the 2008 Olympics, Lane Crawford, the Chinese luxury retailer, commissioned 12 fashion designers to each design a uniform for their favorite sport. All 12 designs, called “The Collective: Synergy in Fashion,” will be displayed for two weeks at Beijing’s Today Art Museum as part of its “Fashion in Motion” exhibition, then displayed at Lane Crawford in Beijing.

Below are some beautiful photos by Chad Pittman for the New York Times Magazine that I put beneath some of the designer's sketches of the initial concepts. Following those are more sketches, courtesy of Lane Crawford.


Above: Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy sketch - Archery (leather clad)


Above: Givenchy - Archery


Above: Stella McCartney sketch - Equestrian (billowing blouse over jodhpurs)


Above: Stella McCartney - Equestrian

Above: Alexander McQueen's sketch- Fencing (to be embroidered in India with little mirrors)


Above: Alexander McQueen - Fencing


Above: Matthew Williamson for Emilio Pucci sketch (based on the winter 2008 Pucci collection)


Above: Pucci - Gymnastics


Above: Stefano Pilati for YSL sketch -Track & Field (notice how the belt becomes the necklace in the shot below)


Above: Yves St. Laurent - Track & Field

All 12 designs, called “The Collective: Synergy in Fashion,” are to be displayed for two weeks at Beijing’s Today Art Museum as part of its “Fashion in Motion” exhibition, then it will also be be displayed at Lane Crawford Beijing during July and August.


Above: Christopher Bailey for Burberry - Sailing (Prosum jacket in leather with classic Burburry hardware)

Above: Martin Margiela - badminton (those are over 100 plastic and feathered shuttlecocks!)

Above: Alberta Feretti - Gymnastics

Above: 3.1 Philip Lim - Table tennis (also known as ping pong)

Above: Costume National's baseball outfit design by Ennio Capasa


Above: Rick Owens- Judo ensemble


Above: Neil Barrett's vision for fencing (jersey knit pants with sheer blouses)

After the exhibition, the pieces will then be auctioned off with all proceeds benefiting UNICEF’s Special Relief Funds for Children affected by the Sichuan earthquake. Participating designers/brands include 3.1 Phillip Lim, Alberta Ferretti, Alexander McQueen, Burberry Prorsum, Martin Margiela, Stella McCartney, Costume National, Givenchy, Neil Barrett, Raf Simons, Yves Saint Laurent and Rick Owens.