Tokyo 2020 – Sports Pictograms
Designer: Masaaki Hiromura
In line with the Tokyo 2020 brand promise of “Innovation from Harmony”, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 sport pictograms are designed to subtly communicate the characteristics and athleticism of each sport, as well as artistically highlights the dynamism of athletes. They will play a key role in enhancing the experience of athletes and spectators alike during the Olympic Games. Olympic Games sport pictograms were first introduced at the Tokyo 1964 Games, which arose from a need to communicate visually to an increasingly international group of athletes and spectators. Since then, pictograms have been created for every edition of the Games. While paying great respect to the predecessors and inheriting the Tokyo 1964 pictograms by innovating them, the Tokyo 2020 pictograms not only adhere to the objective of communicating information, but also are designed to display athletes’ vibrant movement in the most attractive way.
3x3 BASKETBALL
ARCHERY
ARTISTIC GYMNASTCS
ARTISTIC SWIMMING
ATHLETICS
BADMINTON
BASEBALL
SOFTBALL
BASKETBALL
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
BOXING
CANOE SLALOM
CANOE SPRINT
CYCLING BMX FREESTYLE
CYCLING BMX RACING
CYCLING MOUNTAIN BIKE
CYCLING ROAD
CYCLING TRACK
DIVING
EQUESTRIAN DRESSAGE
EQUESTRIAN EVENTING
EQUESTRIAN JUMPING
FENCING
FOOTBALL
GOLF
HANDBALL
HOCKEY
JUDO
KARATE KATA
KARATE KUMITE
MARATHON SWIMMING
MODERN PENTATHLON
RHYTMIC GYMNASTCS
ROWING
RUGBY
SAILING
SHOOTING
SKATEBOARDING
SPORT CLIMBING
SURFING
SWIMMING
TABLE TENNIS
TAEKWONDO
TENNIS
TRAMPOLINE
TRIATHLON
VOLLEYBALL
WATER POLO
WEIGHTLIFTING
WRESTLING
Olympic Kinetic Sport Pictograms
In order to reproduce the original pictograms dynamically, the Tokyo 2020 kinetic sport pictograms appear as a series of three movements: appear, static, and disappear. These recreate the three-dimensional movement of athletes in two dimensions, and are able to express more dynamic movements such as twists. Japanese motion designer Kota Iguchi oversaw the development of the kinetic sport pictograms.
He commented, “For the first time in the history of Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have taken on the challenge of animating the sports pictograms. It took more than a year to create them, with input from so many people helping us add movement to the static pictograms, which were developed by a team led by graphic designer Masaaki Hiromura. The new kinetic sport pictograms will broaden the appeal of each sport by means of their beautiful and more easily conveyed expressions. I hope that they will brighten up each of the events and, while a creation of the Tokyo 2020 Games, I hope they will be passed on to future Games as a legacy for the future, as well as inspiring video designers in other countries.”