(as I tear myself away from watching it the 51st time) as always, a deeply enjoyable and informative episode just exciting my chakras with all things design - and a pleasure and honour being a cameo (!!!) on your epic show! The break down showing the similar pictograms being altered for clarity was very satisfying to watch, it just stands out when pointed out! And as for your last DIY pictogram: I wouldn't be surprised if Paris 24 sees a similar design to your nifty creation! 😆 *grabs pictogram hockey stick and smashes like button*
not a criticism, just trivia: animators call that "motion blur of sorts" "smears". if anyone wants to see more of them, "animation smears" is worth a google. they're one of my favourite signs of art form mastery.
Hey thank you for making this video, im the grandson of Gerhard Joksch. Unfortunately he passed away last year, but i can tell you: He was sooo proud of those icons, he hung 4 pictures of the best icons right by the entrance. There is one story to tell about these figures: My Grandfather was tricked into signing a contract by a higher up that withdraws any rights to these illustrations, he could have sued them, but in 30 years he couldn't bring himself to sue the guy, after that a law prohibites you from sueing (idk why, but thats what he told me). Because of all that: He never got any money for those icons (other than his standard pay of the firm).
Thank you for talking about yours and your Grandfather's experiences. My condolences on your Grandfather's passing. May he rest in peace. You must be proud that you're his Grandson.
The disguised, hidden figures on the show Masquerade and in Olympic performance are part of a very old part of Japanese theater. They are called kuroko ("black clad"), and they perform very much the same function in traditional Japanese theater.
Ah this is awesome to know! Great to see such rich history being kept alive with great and hilarious storytelling in Masquerade - and shown to the world with such pride via this Opening Ceremony 👏🏾
sorry to be a weeb abt it but holy shit that must be where kuroko's name (from kuroko's basketball, where the main character has a superpower that basically lets him redirect his opponent's attention however is beneficial to him) comes from :o
It's also the origin of the idea that Ninja wear all black. You're supposed to ignore the stagehands, so when one of them jumps out of the background to assassinate someone, it's a huge surprise. By the conventions of the theater, ninja were literally invisible until it was too late.
@@Dalenthas A goth, a metalhead, and a priest walk onto the set of a Japanese play. The goth says "Hey, this isn't a goth club", the metalhead says "Hey, this isn't a metal show", and then the priest says "Hey, this isn't an exorcism... So what's all the screaming about?"
Another thing about the Barcelona 92 pictograms is that the style used, those loose strokes creating somewhat abstract figures are, most likely, a nod to Joan Miró, an important painter born in Barcelona who had passed away just 9 years before. This especially applies to the logo, which uses blue, yellow and red, colors very often used by Miró which serve to represent Spain (its hot climate, yellow and red, and the Mediterranean sea, blue)!
The designer said that the comiteé didn't like the Miró colors at first, they said those colors were kinda politically charged (colors of the catalan separatist flag I guess), but he said that they didn't even think of Miró at all until the comiteé said it. He said if anything the pictos took some inspiration from Picasso's figures in the Barcelona's Architects School, and those have no color. At the end the colors stayed as proposed.
Now I know why Linus is being reccommended to me the past few days. My man's been watching him and signalling the algorithm god to spread it through your subs!
A few words on Mexico 68 - I really love the pictogram system developed for the Mexico City Metro developed by Lance Wyman as a direct result of his Olympics identity work. It was one of the design features I noticed immediately when I visited Mexico city - it helped not only visitors navigate the city, but many people who use the transit system without being able to read can still understand where they need to go pictographically. My comment was not meant to diminish that, however, for the sports pictograms for the games, it seems like Wyman was brought in after significant work had been done already by design students at Universidad Iberoamericana, and this set in particular feels less cohesive. When I say some 'could be traced from a photo' I meant the silhouette is much more organic and truer to life than others which were drawn with a compass and a T-square in perfect flat lines and geometric arcs. There's more commentary by Olympic Design scholar, Markus Osterwalder, here: www.theolympicdesign.com/olympic-design/pictograms/mexico-1968/ - I think the legacy of these designs in Mexico city is definitely felt, as is clear from the number of comments here, and should be celebrated! But in terms of the impact on the direction that Olympic pictograms overall took through the 20th century, their role is more as an alternative approach which never took hold. Muchas gracias.
I had no idea the pictograms we use for bathrooms come from the Tokyo 64 Olympics! That's wild. Also the pictograms for Lillehammer being based on a 4000 year old cave painting is insanely cool. Great video as always. This channel is quickly becoming my favourite graphic design channel on RU-vid 🤘🤘
Not cave paintings, but petroglyphs. They're often filled in with red paint, but that's a modern addition, done to make them more visible. Also generally not found in caves, but out in the open, often on a gently sloping flat piece of basaltic rock.
I also really liked that they also integrated the “cultural history” aspect into the pictograms not necessarily with the designs themselves, but by placing them onto 3D traditional Japanese glass bells when the sports were being presented on TV
I love how geometric this year's design, especially the main logo. I think it's a reflection of Japan's cultural design(patterns). Looking back at previous identities, we have seen alot of similar design elements such as expressive brush strokes/ gradient curves etc.
I had no idea the Olympics developed this style! When I was little we had a box of sign flashcards (meant for a daycare maybe?). I was really fascinated with the human representations and called them "public sign people".
Man, the Japanese pictograms from the 60's were great, and the ones for Japan this year are easily my favorites out of all of the sets shown. All the brush strokes and more rough, imprecise, folksy stuff just doesn't do it for me. I much, much prefer the sharp, precise, elegant look of 2021. Great video!
The pictograms show was genius. It also encapsulated an inexplicable part of the modern Japanese essence perfectly. We’re basically the land of simplifying things to look cute, and it reminded me both of a Japanese field day and of something that could be on NHK daytime TV anywhere in the past, like, 40 years a way that is very hard to describe. Granted NHK probably edited the onscreen bits so that may be expected, but still. Edit: Huh, Japan actually invented the pictogram?! I guess it’s only natural they feel Japanese lol.
I was surprised by breakdancing, but the more I thought about it the more it makes sense. They already have artistic ones like gymnastics and dressage (aka horsey dancing). And breakdancing is legit hard to do - the windmill is challenging, and it's the most basic move.
@@PapersheeppOr better still, remove negative people like you so that we can watch artistic swimming, figure skating etc. in peace and be free from your whining.
@@PeanutButterfly92 The Olympics is trying to be more "urban" by including quasi-sports which began on city streets, parks and public spaces. Which, of course, rose to popularity in the 90s. 3x3 basketball is another one of these.
My first time seeing a pictogram for tokyo2020 I said unconsciously "wow". This is so simple and yet so beautiful, the use of negative space is amazing. Loved the video and good luck for the paris team designing break lol
One small error, the Sydney 2000 Olympics pictograms weren't based on boomerangs, they were inspired by indigenous cave paintings that have existed for thousands of years, I can see why one would get confused tho
I can’t get enough of this channel recently. The thoroughness, nerdiness of your research visually displayed in your presentations puts a smile on my face. The way you dive into the particulars of typography, pictograms, and all-around studies of graphic design coupled with your relevant reference photos keep me coming back. It stimulates my brain and can’t wait to see more.
A lot of the Munich pictograms are still used to this day in Germany. You will find the archery and shooting symbols probaly in half of the shooting clubs in Germany if not more. I also recognized a lot of the other pictograms, even though I was born 26 years after the munich olympics.
When I saw the Munich pictograms, particularly the one for basketball, I was smacked in the face with a memory of my elementary school gymnasium. We had these pictograms as wall decoration! (I think they were the basketball, football, swimming, and short-distance running ones. Maybe the baseball one, too.)
I was just wondering about those animated pictograms when watching the olympics the other day. So glad you made a video on it mate! Great work as always
Whilst the Modern Pentathlon had previously been depicted with a horse and 5 shapes arranged in a grid, the Sydney 2000 pictogram used the Southern Cross to depict the 5 sports, which I find quite cool
4:00 Yes, Munich's pictograms are _really_ neat! _Easily_ the first thing people bring up when I ask them to name the second thing they think of when they hear the phrase "1972 Summer Olympics in Munich".
Your channel is the exact kind of design content I want to see more of on RU-vid! Super interesting and fun but as a graphic designer I still learned a lot and really enjoyed all the visuals. Great video!
Dude what a fun video. I've always found design interesting from a hobbyists perspective and the vocabulary and clarity you use makes it all so easy to understand and follow along with. Well done.
"Make them visually distinct from each other. That last point becomes exponentially harder the more pictograms are added to the set" Me, currently working on building/assembling a consistent icon library for my company's primary desktop application, with the number of required, distinct icons at 600 and counting: *nods very vigorously*
It was easily the most enjoyable segment of the opening. I watched it about 3 times after it was over. I really liked the type of music and timing on it they used ... It made it even better.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Lance Wyman as the designer of the pictograms from Mexico, I mean, he’s the most famous of the bunch, I noticed you identified him as the creative director, and designer as “unknown” …actually Lance was the designer himself, the Creative director being Pedro Ramirez Vasquez, one of the most famous Mexican architects and a pioneer of graphic design (he made a lot of very iconic pictorial logos)
I saw the title and thumbnail and wasn't that interested but clicked anyway, after the first minute I was totally hooked and now after watching, I'm so happy I clicked on your video
You're videos are always so informative and well put together. The bit about toilet signs and the 1964 Olympics being the first mass use of pictograms was fascinating. Can't wait for the next video!
this was really neat, i always loved looking at the collage of all the pictograms of all the games since i was a lil kid, it's cool to learn about all that history of it. Great vid
Thank you for introducing me to the Tokyo 2021 opening ceremony! Also your channel is amazing, I found it yesterday and already watched like five videos, you have a very clear way of conveying information that makes your videos entertaining and also your voice is so calming. Instant subscribe!
Amazing video, somehow it made me want to watch Olympics even more. Also Im amazed at the quality as always - you prepare everything so well it feels as if a whole team makes these!
Being a 70s kid, in the age of Sport For All and Keep Britain Tidy (the logo and campaign still exists) who later studied Graphic Design I was always intrigued by the simplicity of the pictogram, and wondered who designed them. Surprised it was as far back as 1964, not surprised it came from Japan, one of the originators of Calligraphy.. a timeless masterstroke, like the IBM logo.
💙 Glad to discover both of you channels such a good quality content you guys have been sharing, thank you! and would love to see more about Qatar & Saudi Arabia sport events pictograms too
Woah!! I've never seen the Lillehammer game pictograms, that's phenomenal! And this whole thing started way later than I would have guessed! Thanks so much for the content 👌👌👌
Great video! I would like to point out that in Rio 2016 the Sugar Loaf mountain shape is one of the great inspirations for the logo and visual identity. Even though it doesn't have the same historical power as Sidney's, Athens' or Beijing's, it does have a profound relation to one of the city greatest symbols. Curves are also an integral part of the iconic Copacabana Beach sidewalks design, so curves have been very central to Rio's visual identity for a long time.
Fun fact: the style of the mexico 68 pictograms was later used as the basis for the Mexico City subway pictograms. This was so everyone including the high percentage of iliterate people could identify the stations. Looking back at these the connection is easy to see even for those who don’t know the history.
i clicked on this video thinking, ugh, there's no way these pictograms could be even remotely interesting... wow, was i wrong. every single video you make is exceptional.
Honestly, Japan comes up some amazing ideas, one of which I now know is universally recognizable pictograms. Sure, there were pictograms before, but they birthed things like the good old male/female bathroom symbols. Those are probably the most useful symbol we have in society.
I recognised the running icon from the first Germany set. They have those on the walls at my local recreation complex. I live in Canada, so that seemed odd until you said they basically reused the icons for Montreal.
Fantastic video! I’d love to see your perspective on the winter Olympic pictograms in a future video. I get that Lillehammer was mentioned as it sparked the trend of historically and culturally significant pictograms for the host country, but there are quite a few interesting winter Olympic pictograms. It would also be fun to see your interpretations of newer Olympic events in older style where such sports were not included in the games.
I love the fact that the London Olympics success delighted and surprised no one as much as us British but the associated logos, mascots and symbology... oh dear.
Great video, this makes me appreciate more pictograms than my 2nd year graphic design teacher did, she insisted that when creating a pictographic system we must strictly follow a grid like those german olympic symbols, and everyone was so lost trying to make it work, I also had to work with creating symbols for seafood and wildlife unlike the german system that mostly dealt with humans, it was chaos. Of course she never showed us other examples of pictograms, not even other olympic ones, I was so happy when you showed those brush stroke ones. Great video and im definetly gonna check that part of the ceremony you mentioned, it looks very cool :D
Linus could you please talk about this annoying meme of “oversiplyfiying” logos? As a designer this drives me NUTS! And paradoxically its an extreme oversimplification of what design entails