Mawgablog

Lance Wyman's 1968 Olympic logotype is timeless and classic

Years ago I wrote an article for Computer Arts Projects as a retrospective of graphic design over the past century. I did a bit of summing up then set out on the long journey to find out the backstories for a range of iconic marques, posters and ad campaigns.

I barely remember writing it all now, but it was fabulous shooting an email to Lance Wyman, who designed the 1968 Olympic games logotype. As they took place in Mexico City, Wyman combined optical and pre-Columbian indigenous Mexican art to achieve, as I’m concerned, the boldest and best Olympic logotype of all time.

Furthermore, Wyman designed the logotype to integrate with the event’s wayfinding system; all the maps and signage around Mexico City pertaining to the games featured this look and feel. I’m not sure that had been done before at an Olympics.

There’s a special place in my heart for 1968, good and bad. It’s the year I was born, for one thing, and it saw the terrible assassinations of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

A page of my design icons article in full

As far as the games were concerned, not only was the design radical, so too were going on in the stadium. It was the year Bob Beamon broke the long jump record, which endured until the early 1990s. It was also the year that American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in Black Power salutes during the medal ceremony for the 200m sprint. It was also the first time the world at large witnessed the Fosbury flop during the high jump event.

I actually popped Lance Wyman an email about this piece, and he got back to me with a few short answers. It was very nice of him. It did really help with the piece. He gave me this fabulous quote when I asked him about using computers to design. He told me: ”I find the technology empowering and dangerous. It adds enormous potential to my creativity, but it can also be a bag of tricks that dumbs down my creativity.”

It really was incredible to get a message in your inbox from such a legendary designer. He really is worth checking out: pop to LanceWyman.com for more. Oh, and check out Bob Beamon gliding into the record books below.