Graphic Design: Markus Osterwalder has a staggering collection of Olympic designs

Date
9 September 2013

For Markus Osterwalder, a Swiss graphic designer and design historian, the branding of the Olympic Games has become something of an obsession. While most of us are content to gripe about the perceived shortcomings of committee-designed print collateral and logotypes we find dated and tired, Markus finds the ongoing development of the Olympic identity fascinating.

“Since the early 1990s,” he says, “no other topic has interested me more than the development of the design of the Olympic Games. The biggest event worldwide with unparalleled media coverage is an illustrative example of how important great design is.” To prove his interest, he’s amassed an enormous collection of archive material, from the design manuals provided to ensure the correct implementation of a given identity, to small, stuffed versions of the strange mascots the IOC insists on producing for every event.

Markus’ collection is so vast that he’s held exhibitions in Turin during the 2006 games and in seven locations in Switzerland. He’s also compiled it all into an impressive online archive, allowing you to share, at least a little, in his all-consuming obsession and wonder if come 2020 the Japanese might be able to reach the heights of Otl Aicher’s celebrated Munich designs, or if they’ll produce another Sochi for us to despair over.

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Markus Osterwalder: The Olympic Design

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Markus Osterwalder: The Olympic Design

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Markus Osterwalder: The Olympic Design

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About the Author

James Cartwright

James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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