Design Competition

The Vancouver 2010 Emblem Design Competition: On June 10, 2004, VANOC launched the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Emblem Design Competition. By the September 15, 2004 entry deadline, more than 1,600 designs had been submitted by Canadian artists and graphic designers from across the country and around the world. "This was a national competition," said John Furlong, chief executive officer of VANOC. "So I am pleased to report that we received entries from every region of our country from coast to coast to coast." An International Design Panel comprising nine Olympic and Canadian design experts conducted a rigorous evaluation of all the entries. "The Canadian design community has truly outdone itself. The quality of the work submitted for the Design Competition was absolutely outstanding, and shows what kind of creativity and design excellence will be seen by the world at the Vancouver 2010 Games." - Brad Copeland, International Olympic Committee Design Consultant, Atlanta 1996 Design Director. On April 23, 2005, the emblem recommended by the Design Panel was presented to the world at a nationally televised program entitled IMAGINE 2010 - Canada's Olympic journey begins.

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Creative Brief

• Emblem must clearly represent the heart and vision behind Vancouver 2010 to the world
• Must express the values inherent in the Olympic Rings and the global Olympic Movement
• Tell a proud story of Canada: our land, our values and our unique sense of community
• Identity worthy of welcoming the Olympians and Paralympians who will compete on 2010


Design Objectives


• Distinct and powerful visual identity
• Reflect contemporary artistic aesthetics
• Reflect the excellence of Olympic design tradition
• Clear distinction from all previous emblems
• Foundation for overall "Look of the Games"
• Capture and reflect the unique image and spirit of Canada, Vancouver and Whistler
• Capture Canada's passion for winter sports, and the energy and excitement of the Games
• Reflect our love for Canada's spectacular natural environment
• Embody Canada's values, celebrating our diversity and inclusiveness
• Convey a range of meanings
• Serve as a source of inspiration for Canadians
• Foundation for animation, broadcast applications
• Work well in all scales and all media (Print, web, TV, pins, ice rinks, buildings)
• Capable of being reproduced by any process
• Work well in horizontal and vertical formats
• Easy to reproduce 2D and 3D
• Work well multi-colour, 2 colour, Black and White
• Colour palette can be applied to the entire "Look of the Games"

Communication Challenge

Conquering this communication challenge required the versatility of an emblem that has to be used in a myriad of applications; from credit cards and t-shirts, to ice rinks and stadiums, in colour or black and white, in print and on websites. It is because of the many strengths of our entry that it was unanimously selected by the judges.

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About the Logo

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