A Brief Summary On The Visual Elements Of The Winter Olympics 2018

The Winter Olympics of 2018, known as the PyeongChang 2018 is a multi-sport event that is all set to unite sports enthusiasts throughout the month of February. As with every Olympic Games and their unique setting, the medals and logo that represent the event too undergo innovations to complement the prevailing setting and the country in which the games are taking place. The winter Olympic games that are taking place in Korea have drawn their inspiration from the Korean lands and had designed the medals and the official logo in accordance to that.

Image courtesy PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games

Logo
The logo of the South Korean games use the traditional five colours (red, green, yellow, blue and black) yet the logo designers have added a Korean edge while constructing the logo. The star shaped emblems, the pillar have been used to represent the Korean alphabet, Hangeul and hold a deeper meaning. The pillar symbolises the harmony between heaven, earth and man with the star representing the athletes, ice and snow.

Medals
The medals depict the Olympic rings on one side with the PyeongChang 2018 logo on the other. Lee Hee-beom, the president of the Olympics organizing committee said to the Los Angeles Times, “The medals are a wonderful compilation of our culture, tradition and the Olympic values. We wanted the medal to be a symbol of Korea and all the wonderful memories that the athletes will take home from their time here.” Even the ribbon that is affixed to the medals are made from Gapsa, that represents the Korean region it originates from.

Torch
The torch too references the culture of Korea with its length of 70 cm, a nod to the height of   PyeongChang, that is almost 700 metres above sea-level. The torch encompasses a gold cylinder with a white outer case that portray the five prongs representing the five continents  that are participating in the tournament. The cap shaped like the umbrella is placed on top to ensure that the flame of the torch burns even during unfavourable weather conditions.

Mascot
Logo designing of the symbols representing the Olympic Games is invariably incomplete without the designing of an ideal mascot that perfectly complements the event. The mascots this year are a super cute animated figure of a white tiger, named the Soohorang, meaning “protection” and “tiger” and a black bear called Bandabi that represents strong will power and courage, much needed during the undertaking of the dangerous winter sports.

The mascots, the uniforms, the logo have all been the talking points this year and have been making all the right notes, spreading inspiration all over the world. With the world always on the verge of complex geopolitical situations and impending war, world events like the Olympics serve to provide the much needed light across countries. The thoughtful logo design techniques only serve to contribute to this noble cause of uniting the world.