Design of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Pictograms

As I watched the Summer Olympics that were held in Paris this past summer, I found myself obsessed with the little icons that represent each sport. I would scroll through all of the sports trying to figure out what each one entailed. And I started to think about the designers who were in charge of creating all of these.

What a daunting job it must be to have to break down each sport into a few shapes and lines. I guess that's the definition of design, though, isn't it? Design is supposed to simplify and make things recognizable. I know I would be intimidated to take on this task. There have been sports icons since the Tokyo Games in 1964. That's a lot of history and pressure to live up to!

Here is an article from designboom that interviews the Paris 2024 Head of Design, Joachim Roncin. It's an interesting look into the depth of the design involved in the games. His responsibility was immense, as he "mapped out and created the torches, medals, mascots, and posters. He’s the mastermind behind all the colors, logos, merchandise, and everything vibrant visitors see when they visit Paris during the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics." It's interesting to see his vision about the design on the back of the medals too!

The pictograms below were created for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The pictograms below were created for the 2024 Paralympic Games.

But as he stated in the article, you can't please everyone. As I was researching information about the Paris pictograms I fell in love with, I found this article on The Loop Online Marketing News. It's titled: "Paris 2024 Pictograms: A Lesson in Bad Design." The author of the article, Alaina Halsey, states "For years, host cities have created a beautiful balance between functionality and the identity of the Games when creating their unique icons for each sport. That is until now." The author believed these icons fell short in their functionality and couldn't be deciphered when small and on a mobile device.

Here is a quick video about the significance of the pictograms.

And this website has all 62 pictograms from the Paris Olympics.

Although I believe these are great examples of design, I would love to hear other opinions too.

Sources:
“Designing Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics with Joachim Roncin, from Torches to Medals.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 25 July 2024, www.designboom.com/design/joachim-roncin-design-paris-2024-olympics-paralympics-posters-medals-interview-05-01-2024/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.
Halsey, Alaina. “The Loop Marketing Inc.” Theloopmarketing.com, 2024, theloopmarketing.com/paris-2024-olympics-pictograms/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2024.

“The Olympic and Paralympic Pictograms | Paris 2024.” Olympics.com, International Olympic Committee, 2024, olympics.com/en/paris-2024/the-games/the-brand/pictograms.

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