We are yet to see one person who isn’t head over heels cheering for the Rio Olympic 2016. Most people sit glued to their TVs and laptops round the clock, watching their country heroes fight it out in the arena, while some can’t seem to download enough Olympic apps to keep up with the most up-to-the-minute occurrences, lest they miss something important. Designers and artists on the other hand, celebrate with something a little more impressive, bringing to the table their masterful art to glorify the mammoth affair.
Read the Ultimate Graphic Design Guidebook 2016 to Vamp up Your Designs
Only two years back we showed you some of the most awe-inspiring Captured Olympics 2014 Sochi Shots that depicted the sheer glory of Olympics! Yet again, 2016 has made it certain that marrying the beauty of art and sports births gorgeous offspring. With the commencement of Rio Olympics, some artists have had their hands full with creative, Olympic inspired art projects. From quirky proposed Google Doodles, to interactive maps, giant murals, awe-inspiring paper figures, smooth animations, and breathtaking posters; Olympic art this year is all set to wow.
1. The Animated motion graphics Project: “Olympia”
Follow artists: @Con_Whelan, @rmayani, @henrique_barone
To commemorate the outstanding athletic prowess of the participants and the celebration of the Olympic Games, a team of creative geniuses have designed an animated motion graphics that breathes life in to five Olympic sports; Long jump, high jump, Javelin, Discus, and Hurdles.
Drawing their inspiration from the five characteristic interlocking rings that form the Olympic logo, the designers have painstakingly illustrated a series of athletes that match the forms and colors of the signature symbols of each sport. A mesmerizing sequence of animated gifs portray each character interacting with one of the Olympic rings through their ability in a particular sport; vaulting over them, throwing them, or leaping through them.
We are awed by this beautifully flowing, sweeping homage to what the Olympics are all about; Mind-blowing athletic talent all set to be flaunted at Rio 2016. Not only is this animation moving, but it is also wonderfully stylish. It is amazing how the athletes transform into each other seamlessly and voila; the Olympic rings form before you even know it!
2. Rio 2016 Interactive Map
Follow artists: @FiascoDesign, @BenSteers
While not every sport aficionado is lucky enough to be in Rio at the moment, you can still live the controversy of the Games and experience the glories of the city in this handy online map. Although looking at its bright, gorgeous simplicity, one may think that the map embodies the ideal version of the games, but that is far from the case. Amongst the giant palm trees and flying parrots, you can also play games such as “excavate the body parts” and “hunt the fugitive”!
Brought to life with flawless animation and rendered with fresh and vibrant hues that pop off the screen, this interactive map doesn’t sugarcoat when it comes to the latest headlines. According to Fiasco Design’s creative director Ben Steers:
“In light of all the negative press and controversies around the games, we aspired to design a map of Rio which users could explore and interact with to dig around more information about the games. Our aim was to create something that would be fun to use and didn’t take itself too seriously.”
3. Rio 2016 Proposed Google Doodles
The proposed Google doodles by the Brazilian graphic Designer Leo Natsume are an eyeful! His concepts as of now are presented for three Olympic sports; tennis, weightlifting, and fencing. The witty transformation of Olympic athletic figures playing their sport incorporated seamlessly in the Google Logo, is clever to say the least.
As part of the Rio Olympics 2016, these illustrations and animations were also devised as concepts for mobile games. We can’t wait to see the day these doodles become official! According to Leo Natsume:
“To create the illustrations, I studied each of the Olympic sports to bring the essence of the main movements and gestures of each sport in order to stay characteristic and add value to Google brand”,
4. Official Rio Posters
Traditionally, Olympic Games have always chosen one poster representative of the host city. However, this year 13 diverse posters have been designed to channel the fervor and zest of the Brazilian culture, and highlight the multitudinous array of people residing in the largest country of South America.
The official posters of Rio 2016 are designed by 12 Brazilian artists- Rico Lins, Kobra, Juarez Machado, Guto Lacaz, Gustavo Piqueira, Gustavo Greco, Gringo Cardia, Ana Clara Schindler, Claudio Tozzi, Beatriz Milhazes, Antonio Dias, Alexandre Mancini-, and one Columbian designer- Olga Amaral.
According to Carla Camurati, director of culture for the Rio Olympics:
“It’s a conundrum for us in Brazil to choose only one artist to design the official posters or represent the Olympic Games. The important the Olympic Games and for us, is to portray Brazil as it is, with the brightness, with the colors, with the beauty of the diversity of people that we have here; the assortment of roots that we have.”
5. Visa Rio 2016 Olympics Campaign
Saatchi & Saatchi and Gordon Reid created the visa’s Rio 2016 Olympics #EverythingCounts campaign, comprising of a total of four images, created using photography and 3D rendered illustrations. Overlaid with energetic flourishes of graphics and type, the images feature the brand’s sponsored athletes for the Olympics- Elinor Barker star, Claudia Fragapane, Adam Gemili, and Adam peaty- depicted as training for the most significant moment of their lives. Using the metaphor of a heart, the artists have perfectly depicted the fitness and strain entailed to compete, and the subsequent passion and excitement in watching.
According to the designer Gordon Reid:
“We used a metaphor of a heart to show that the Visa and Olympics are always ‘on,’ like a heart. Each piece of the artwork demonstrates this in a different way, so we’ve got the heart of the fan, the heart of the athlete, the heart of Rio, and the main key visual, the heart of the Olympics.”
6. Paper Crafted Olympic Athletes
The Barcelona based paper artist, Raya Sader Bujana, in collaboration with photographer Garcia Mendez, designed a series of mesmerizing plane paper figures for an Olympic themed photography shoot. Each figurine is delicately cut out from 150 pieces of paper, which are then joined by a plethora of tiny 3mm separators to craft the signature layering effect.
7. Team GB Rio 2016 Posters
With the commencement of Rio 2016 Olympics, Counter Editions have recently published a series of Olympic inspired limited edition works from artists including Tracey Emin, David Shrigley, Anne Hardy, Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Eddie Peake for Team Great Britain. Here are some of the official posters, and the hidden inspirations behind them:
• David Shrigley, “Life Is Fantastic”
Follow artist: @davidshrigley
He came up with an ingenious poster pertaining to the ongoing Rio Olympics. The beautiful poster that cleverly mixes a thumbs-up, an ice-cream, and the Olympic torch is a happy, bright success.
• Sarah Jones, “Cabinet Spiral”
While thinking about the history of the Olympic Posters, Artist Sarah jones wanted to continue the legacy; to celebrate a coming through, an achievement, and to reflect on that through artistic projects. Using the choice of colors for the Rio emblem to represent Brazil- green, yellow, and blue- the spiral in the poster represents unbounded energy.
The yellow sphere, elevated on an upturned glass, is shown as containing smaller yellow spheres inside, which is representative of the dedication and efforts required, and the aspirations needed to achieve Olympic standards. Set against a blue backdrop, the objects are contained, as if preserved like a trophy inside a cabinet.
• Benjamin Senior, “Stroke Tempo”
Artist Benjamin Senior’s serene and clear paintings feel like a breath of fresh air amidst the chaos of the digital world. His fascination with the athletes’ moment of training, the way they attain the perfect balance, rhythm, and form, is the inspiration behind the visual metaphors in this design. The print shows perfect bodies interweaved together with abstract patterns. While the athletes fine hone their performance through repetition, all their parts work in harmony with each other.
• Anne Hardy, Reflection
Follow artist: @annnehardy
Leveraging balls, ropes, round mirrors, and salvaged material, Anne Hardy built this work of art in her studio. It’s meant to suggest the residue of performances, a place of action, games or exercises. Her installations and photographic works can be construed as “head spaces”, or physical representations of psychological states.
• Tracey Emin, True Love Always Wins
Follow artist: @TraceyEmin
Contrary to the designs above, the artist has generated a muted design, incorporating the soft illustration of the statue of Rio’s Christ, the Redeemer, coupled with the words ‘True love always wins’.
8. Rio 2016 Mural
Follow artist: @kobrastreetart
Portraying a collage of five indigenous faces from five continents in a reference to the five Olympic rings, this 3000-square-metre, massive mural is an apt homage by the artist Eduardo Kobra , to the competition. The mural celebrates talent, diversity and how we are all connected. While the wall is a kaleidoscopic explosion of colors, 5 faces stand out in photorealistic clarity. Suitably entitled “Ethnicities”, his work references the Mursi people of Ethiopia, the Chukchi of Siberia, the Tapajos from the Brazilian Amazon, the Huli of Papua New Guinea, and the Karen people from Thailand.
According to Kobra:
“There is growing intolerance in the world. Look at Europe, where people are rejecting refugees, rejecting what is different. I hope this mural, in the Olympic spirit, will help remind us that we are all different but all one: the human race.”
9. Mounted Giant Sculptures Of Athletes
French artist JR has been busy putting up mammoth sculptures of athletes in Rio. One portrait installed over a residential tower depicts the arching sculpture of the Sudanese high jumper, Mohamed Younes Idriss, while the other portrays an athlete diving into the sea. To create the artworks, photographs are printed on fabric, and then stretched over scaffolding.
Follow artist: @JRart
10. “Olympops”; A Series Of Animations
The London-based animation studio, Animade, has announced to release a series of 5 animations, one in each week of the Olympics. Each animation is themed on a different sport and revolves around awkward balloon figures. The first animation is a teaser, depicting the Olympic rings as balloons whizzing off in a perfect sequence like synchronized swimmers, with adorable faces drawn on each in felt tip. According to Russell Etheridge:
Follow: @animadetv
“This project was a great chance for us to be playful with 3D techniques. We went through many ideas and iterations, finally settling on popping sports character skits, helped along by the catchy pun that we named the series after.”
Olympics who? We’re all about #Olympops! Find out what it’s all about here—https://t.co/F4aNVXNBBn pic.twitter.com/tX1KzBdq6e
— Animade (@animadetv) August 5, 2016
A Kaleidoscope Of Inspiration
Now handing the stage over to you. You have witnessed an array of mesmerizing Olympic inspired artwork by artists all over the globe. If you have some clandestine art project up your sleeve, be sure to share with us in the comments section below. Tchau!
