“Trying to capture the essence of an object or idea with only a few lines and at the same time maintaining its elegance is pretty much design in a nutshell. That’s what’s so great about icons, they’re tiny poems.”
—Kyle Tezak
An example of this being their application within the Olympic Games.
One major design challenge is how one should help direct and guide an international audience coming to attend the games. Recognising the need for a common understanding across languages and cultural barriers, Tokyo ’64’s Olympic design team, led by design critic Masaru Katsumi, did away with the use of words, opting instead for pictograms.
Pictograms are to be designed around functionality, up of geometric shapes pictorial of that to their representing sport. Simple enough to be on a ticket; yet complex enough to be integrated alongside the Games core graphics and design systems.
Otl Aicher was a German graphic designer, typographer, educator and co-founder of the Ulm design school. He is known for his contributions to the field of graphic design, particularly in the areas of corporate identity and wayfinding systems. Aicher was a leading figure in the Swiss Style of graphic design, which emphasised clean, precise, and functional design. He was known for his use of typography and grid-based layouts, and he believed in the importance of creating clear and intuitive visual communication systems.
Designed first for the Munich Summer Games of 1972, Aicher’s pictograms are designed using simply points and lines to form shapes pictorial of that to their representing sport of the Olympics, feeding the need for a common understanding across languages and cultural barriers. Pictograms are to be designed around functionality; simple enough to be on a ticket; yet complex enough to be integrated alongside the Games core graphics and design systems.
