Rio 2016 Olympic games are the most popular and commented news on the world for this 2 week event. So we are going to analyze 6 of the best Olympic logos (in my conception) and compare them through the ages. Let’s see logos from different period of times, which represent different pattern of art and aesthetics.

• London – 1948

This is the first post-war Olympic logo and is very classic with coordinated shapes and forms. Roman numbers and the use of the five rings superimposed on London’s Parliament building brings a serious and political feeling. But all this characteristics doesn’t make it a bad logo, just old-fashioned (now).

• London – 2012

Wow! What a nice comparison! From 1948, with a traditional, black and white, serious logo to a fun, modern and colored design. For me, they really got out of the box using 2012 to elaborate a nice, different logo format in comparison to others, but this was a controversial logo. People have protested  for its untraditionally bright color palette and its slight resemblance to a swastika, as well as the claim that some people see an inappropriate sexual figure in the shapes.

• Munich – 1972

This logo is an interesting innovation in Olympic graphic design, because was among the first to drop the convention of displaying the five rings in the design since the 1930s. Instead, brings a stylized sun with slightly distorted rays by a spiral, which gives the feeling of the rays coming out at the viewer.

• México – 1968

The professional logo for the 1968 Summer Games features a style seen in the art of native Latin American art with layered lines. The lines spell out ‘Mexico’ and ‘68’ with the Olympic rings woven in. Some people think it’s hard to read 68 and it’s kind of confuse, but this lines actually show a lot of mexican personality.

• Tokyo – 1964

The Japanese rising sun above the Olympic rings in gold is a must! So beautiful. And even better, using minimal symbols and very effective graphical design. The red circle is not only the symbol of the country, but is also a great focal point. Absolutely clever idea to use this gradient technique. It gives a very cool effect to the logo, making it more real the sun rising visual.

• Rio – 2016

This year’s Olympic logo shows people jubilantly joining hands, while the colour scheme reflects Rio’s environment. So we got yellow that symbolises the sun; blue connecting to the sea and green showing off the forests. It looks fresh and modern, also very different from what we have shown until now.

Which one is your favorite?

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