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A rubbing from Maogong tripod caldron, 9th Century BC, one inspiration for the designers of the Beijing Games pictograms.
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Are they traditional Chinese seals, or rubbings of seal characters and graphics lifted from an ancient bronze artifact? Or are they the impressions of an aged stone tablet from the East? None of the above. They are the Beijing Olympic sport pictograms issued by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) on August 7, 2006, the occasion of the two-year countdown to the opening of the Games.
The Beijing Olympics Pictograms collection comprises 35 sports icons, respectively representing athletics, rowing, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoe/kayak flat-water, canoe/kayak slalom, cycling, equestrianism, fencing, football, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, weightlifting, handball, hockey, judo, wrestling, swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, water polo, modern pentathlon, softball, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing, court volleyball and beach volleyball.
The Beijing 2008 Olympics will feature a total of 37 events within 28 major sports categories. It was agreed that three cycling events would be represented by a single icon, so 35 sports pictograms were issued, according to Zhang Ming, vice-director of BOCOG Culture and Ceremonies Department.
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Designers also drew inspiration from Sanshi bronze plate from the 8th Century BC, and the rubbing lifted from that artifact.
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As one of the basic image elements of the Olympic Games, the pictograms are used for signage and decorating of venues. Primarily the images will serve as directional signposts for Olympic athletes as well as spectators. They are also widely applied to purposes of advertising and communications, TV broadcasting, souvenir design, Olympic marketing and more.
“The human figure on the horseback represented by the equestrian icon is just the character of “man” in traditional Chinese pictographic seal script,” said Wang Jie, a graduate student from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. It was Wang who first put forward the idea of using seal script as the basic form of the signage. “And the image of the horse in that same pictogram is transformed from the seal character that represents the animal.”
Designers revealed that they used as a basis for the pictograms the strokes of traditional Chinese seal characters. “Chinese seal characters are round and smooth, rough and gentle, beautiful and graceful, and they demonstrate the quintessence of traditional Chinese aesthetics,” said Hang Hai, assistant professor with the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, and one of the leaders of the design group.
“We also borrowed the effect of sharp contrast of black and white from the typical Chinese traditional artistic form of rubbings,” Hang said.
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A rubbing lifted from an ancient bronze artifact, a design element of the newly issued sport signage for the Beijing Games.
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“When the rubbing effect is applied to sports pictograms, the powerful contrast between black and white renders a vivid beauty of the sport events, while the movement shapes of the pictograms perfectly represent the passion and dynamic nature of the sports,” he said.
At the releasing press conference, BOCOG unveiled two sets of sport pictograms. One is based on string, while the other is based on the rubbing of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells, stone tablets and bronze wares in ancient China.
“They combine the visual charm of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells and bronze wares in ancient China with the simplicity of the modern graphics,” said Zhang Ming. “The design not only well features the particular movement and dynamism of each sports event, but also is easy to recognize and remember.”
The design process began in March 2005 and, according to Zhang, after expert evaluation of more than 30 candidates, one of the two short-listed was based on seal characters by China Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the other was based on string by the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University.
Guided in large part on suggestions from many professionals, Olympic broadcasting organizations and athletes, the joint design group from the two institutes finally conceived of the design of “The Beauty of Seal Characters.”
Beijing Olympic Update
Two-Year Countdown Celebrations
The Games are approaching and host city Beijing is increasingly abuzz with Olympic spirit and ambience. On August 8, 2006, which marked the two-year countdown to the opening of the Games, millions of Beijing citizens participated in a morning exercise to celebrate the important date. While BOCOG issued a set of sports signage, State Post Bureau of China released a set of commemorative stamps on the same theme. Various celebrations were held throughout the nation on the occasion.
Anti-Doping Awareness
The BOCOG and the Sports Medicine Academy of General Administration of Sport of China and Chinese Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Commission recently launched a series of meetings on anti-doping. Known as “Scientific Olympics,” to promote ChinaÕs support of anti-doping measures, the meetings established a three-year plan to provide anti-doping knowledge in Beijing and other Olympic event cities in China.
Softball Venue Opens
Fengtai Softball Field, the first Olympic venue completed and put into use in Beijing, is now open to visitors. The ISF XI WomenÕs Fast Pitch World Championship was held in the venue, as will be the softball competitions of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Volunteer Recruiting
Volunteer recruitment for the 29th Olympic Games and 13th Paralympic Games officially kicked off on August 28, 2006. It is estimated that about 70,000 and 30,000 volunteers will be required for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, respectively.
