“Let’s call it a conceptual revolution. » During a press conference this Wednesday, February 8, the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) presented the visual identity of Paris 2024. Even for the pictograms, the organizer wanted to “break the codes”, his mantra as soon as he won the Games. Since the appearance of this sleek signage at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics (JOP), no host city had modernized it. None, except Paris. “Pictograms are a thing of the past. We launch the principle of the coat of arms »announces the Cojop.
After the “simple” personalization of these small logos launched from Barcelona in 1992, the Parisian edition therefore wanted to mark a new break by changing the visual identity of the event. In November 2022, the Cojop presented the Phryges, the JOP mascots in the shape of a Phrygian cap. An original choice which had already distinguished Paris from previous editions of the JOP.
Until then, pictograms were essentially informative and universal symbols that represented each discipline by a practitioner. This time, the Paris 2024 design teams have, in collaboration with the creative agency W, erased the athletes on their new “blazons” for a graphic construction from a central element of the practice (surfboard, armchair , bicycle, snowshoe…), all around an axis of symmetry.
“Reconnecting with Youth”
The new visuals, however, have something to intrigue. Their clarity and their comprehension, first requirements of the device, can question.
“Some are less distinctive than others, recognizes Julie Matikhine, brand director at Paris 2024. But they make it possible to arouse a form of curiosity. Once we have decoded the coat of arms, we understand it forever. » On the side of the athletes, some were also “a little disturbed”. “But they had a feeling of pride to belong to this country which takes things a little differently, like with mascots. »
These coats of arms, for which a little adaptation time will be necessary, will be present in particular on the digital tickets and on all the signage around the stadiums. Each of them will also have its animated version for television broadcasts and, above all, for communication on social networks. Objective: to propel these coats of arms into the lives of “everyday fans and sportsmen”. Young, if possible. A challenge that Paris 2024 has set itself, embodied in particular by the integration of breakdance among the Olympic disciplines.
And for the organizers of the Games, this also involves visual identity. “The IOC [Comité international olympique] did not imagine that we rework the pictograms in this way, admits Julie Matikhine. They were delighted and aware of this challenge of reconnecting with young people and with their own way of communicating. » Another issue is inclusion. Of the sixty-two coats of arms, eight will be identical for the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines – as for para judo and para badminton – in order to “putting everyone under the same banner, under the same values”.
The Cojop also presented the “look” of the next Games, inspired by the French edition of 1924, with references to Orphic cubism. With a predominance of red, green, blue and purple, under pastel tones, and discreet Parisian symbols, the visual identity will remain sober, especially at the edge of the pitches “so as not to steal the spotlight from the athletes”. Future curiosity of the Games, the Stade de France athletics track will be purple. “We wanted to reconcile sport and the spirit of the Paris Games, with a sense of aesthetics, teamwork and sharing”develop the Paris 2024 teams.
This visual identity will be common to the JOP, but customizable by each host city, which can highlight its architectural symbols. The organization also encourages all municipalities in France to “raise the banners of Paris 2024”. In particular, graphic kits will be given to schools to dress up the establishments and promote the sport. The creation of a sound identity is currently being considered.
More than a pictogram, a coat of arms ⚔️ Fusion of sport and its terrain, here is your banner for the Games of… https://t.co/JL5PfiKOIc