Olympic Look

Lillehammer 1994 was my first experience with the "Look of the Games". After visiting the Design and Communication Department in Lillehammer in February 1994 I've started to understand the importance of this specific design elements for such a huge event. If you imagine the Lillehammer 1994 Olympic Winter Games without the cristal- and pictogram patterns the whole impression of the event will look very poor and boring.

The Look of the Games is one of the key visual elements of each Olympic Games. It perfectly communicates the Olympic Spitit and the concept of the host city while fully expressing it's culture and arts. The Look is the glue that holds all of the diverse graphic elements of the Olympic visual identities together, such as the Olympic emblem, the pictograms, the mascots and the theme slogan.
In the extensive application of the Look of the Games, the character of the host country culture and landscape which arerichly reflected by the visual identity should always be considered.

To ensure the proper use of the Look of the Games and to respect, protect and enhance the value of the host city image, the Organizing Committee (OCOG), produces several manuals to define the standard image of the Look of the Games and the correct usage of it.

The name "Look of the Games" was created for the first time in Barcelona 1992 and since then used for all future olympics. The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens 2004 used the name "Panorama" for the same meaning. The XX. Olympic Winter Games in Torino 2006 used the word "La Piazza" and for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games "Core Graphics".