Otl Aicher

The evident challenge of designing for the Munich Olympics is its historical context. As the Design Commissioner of the games, Aicher internalized the necessity to completely step away from the Nazi-exploited 1936 Berlin Games in favor of something joyful and light-hearted that represented the young new democratic Germany–a modern utopia free of outside branding. The visual identity was clearly defined by a set of graphic elements and rules, grounded in a strong grid framework, while exhibiting playfulness with its “unGerman” bright colors inspired by the Bavarian landscape. Inspired by the communicative power of symbols, Aicher’s team developed nearly 180 pictograms for the sporting events, all set through strict orthogonal and diagonal square grids; they also pioneered the first Olympic mascot, Waldi, a striped dachshund, and the use of the posterization effect for the promotional posters before Photoshop existed. The precise visual identity took the form of color-coordinated uniforms, posters, brochures, maps, tickets, timetables, luggage tags, and many more--managing to convey warmth and a transformative new look for Germany.

Aicher took his holistic approach of corporate design into all his visual identity projects, including the 1972 games, documenting his precise conclusive design system with “Guidelines and Standards for the Visual Design” which marked a turning point in design history. Manuals like his have since become an indispensable part of the Olympic Games design process.