Poster Design

Compare and Contrast Poster Design

How are culture and trends represented through poster design

How does poster design represent culture and design 

Posters act as a representation of both art movements and trends at that time as well as the cultural heritage of the host country.

• One main aim of all Olympic branding is to convey culture of host Country
• makes for ideal analysis and comparisons between the designs of each culture
• each hosts designs will be a direct representation of design styles and trends at that time.
• also include art and design movements; modernism, postmodernism

Lake Placid 1932

Set against this background, there is a silhouette of a ski jumper, its minimalist style being in-keeping with the art movement of the time. 

The poster presents a map of the USA which indicates the location of Lake Placid. Set against this background, there is a silhouette of a ski jumper, its minimalist style being in-keeping with the art movement of the time. The image of the ski jumper with the map of the United States was also used for the emblem of the Games. At the top of the poster the Games edition is mentioned and, at the bottom, the city, country and date.

Calgary 1988

The OCOG produced several posters on this theme, presenting, for example, the stadium which hosted the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Games or the skiing venues.

The poster presents a view of the city of Calgary with the Rocky Mountains behind. At the center of the poster there is a large version of the Games emblem, with the theme of this Games edition in French and English at the top. 

Nagano 1998

A thrush is perched on a ski pole. This native bird of Siberia migrates every year to spend the winter in Japan. 

The OCOG asked various renowned Japanese artists to create general promotional posters for the 1998 Winter Games. These were published successively between 1995 and 1997:

Katsumi Asaba

Hiro Yamataga

Koji Kinutani

Opening Ceremony poster: The OCOG chose this work to illustrate the three keywords of the Opening Ceremony: simplicity, dignity and spirituality. 

In the background, dawn breaking over the mountains reflects the OCOG’s desire to organise Games in harmony with nature. 

- reflects earlier reading… Buddhism meant Eastern art focus mainly on nature and had it has the foreground and hierarchy in art and design throughout history. This is because Buddhism favours the natural world and recognises the impermanence of humanity 

- this is clear in the poster design here, western hosts would be more inclined to feature an athlete as the main focus.

Salt Lake City 2002

The sports posters: The OCOG’s creative services produced a series of sports posters showing athletes in characteristic Utah landscapes. 

These posters are strongly influenced by the nature and geography of the host country. This is one example of how the culture and context of a poster can influence and set it apart from other designs.

Turin 2006

The poster design represents Antonelli’s dome, the emblematic architectural feature of the city of Turin. The design also symbolises the values of the Games, sport and the host city. The dome, in seven colours, slopes down to become a mountain or a ski run. On the left, a three-dimensional effect reveals a second dome, white like the snow this time. Its base is decorated with the official Games emblem and slogan Passion lives here

Possible Practical Investigation

Redesign Tokyo 2020 Olympic games posters

• current visuals are dated
• logo basic
• logo animation dated

Redesign Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics

This is the proposed logo design for the next winter olympic games in South Korea.

Straight away I thought that these designs are incredibly basic and unworthy of representing such a prestigious event.