The Olympics are in full swing in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, and with its 306 sporting events, there is plenty of exciting action every day.

When an Olympics is held there are obviously many factors in making the host city put their mark on their year. The host city is required to have a logo which represents their city and the Olympics together. Throughout history, there have been many interesting takes on the Olympic logo — Milton Glaser, one of America’s most celebrated graphic designers, puts his personal critique on the host cities Olympic logos from over the last century. Glaser, is most famously notable for his iconic “I <heart> NY” graphic, that we see on millions of t-shirts and other merchandise.

Throughout the article Milton comments on the Olympic logos’ legibility, relevance, imagery, colour, typography and scale etc., then giving it a mark out of 100. This is a great representation of what graphic design’s many elements, which all play a role in the portrayal and visual impact a graphic can leave behind.

As you can see from Glasers’ critique, some logos come across much better than others but it’s still interesting to see the different cities’ logos from the past, and how design has changed over the years.

To view the full article, please visit— eyeondesign.aiga.org

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