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Think Tank LA

Posters 'Not An Afterthought

by
on August 28, 2009 7:29 PM
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Last week, while looking into what would become this post,TTLA checked in with Wayne Wilson, Vice President, Education Services, at the LA84 Foundation.

Wilson is a familiar name to anyone whose ever spent time at the Foundation's incredible Sports Library, located at 2141 West Adams Boulevard. Wilson's also a writer, researcher, and Olympics historian.

Wilson isn't an art historian, and wasn't all that impressed with TTLA's rambling on about the prevalence of nude forms -- or not -- seen on certain Olympic posters. But Wilson's reply was typically savvy when asked where poster-making fits into the greater Games. From his note:

"The posters are definitely not an afterthought. Typically, they are created after the Games are awarded, so they aren’t part of a pitch to the IOC. Also, typically, the poster is part of a larger visual communication strategy that includes the logo, mascots, medals and environmental design. The extent to which it simply reflects the inspiration of the designers, or is an attempt to promote and city or nation varies from Games to Games. As an aside, I’d mention that the adoption of the so-called Festve Federalism environmental design of the 1984 Games (I’m not talking about the poster here [shown on the LA84-produced pamphlet]) was a conscious attempt to avoid a chauvinistic red, white and blue theme."

Photo Credits: The image accompanying this post was taken by Flickr user Los Mininos. The image was used under Creative Commons license.

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