Atlanta's Iconologic Teams with Torino 2006 to Design the Look of the Winter Olympic Games

With only one year until the Opening of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Atlanta's Iconologic, in partnership with the Image and Identity department of Torino 2006 (TOROC), is putting the finishing touches on the design of the Look of the Games (defined below in more detail). Iconologic, whose Olympic design experience spans 17 years, has played an important design role in the creation of all elements of the Torino 2006 Look of the Games: the core graphic theme of the Games—"Piazza," the sports pictograms, the Torch Relay logo and Look, guidelines for Olympic sponsors and a multitude of licensed products bearing the new image (see attached conceptual overview).

"Our creative team's strength is its unique understanding of the Olympic Movement and ability to visually communicate the themes, styles and personalities of other cultures in a relevant, memorable way," said Brad Copeland, Iconologic's President. "'Piazza', the concept for the Torino 2006 Look of the Games, is a uniquely Italian solution, strongly rooted in history while clearly pointing toward the future. I am extremely proud of the collaborative results that our teams have achieved and believe that the Torino 2006 image will resonate in a powerful way with the Italian and global television audience."

In January 2004, Iconologic designers, led by Creative Director Matt Rollins, worked collaboratively with the TOROC Image and Identity team to create the visual graphic language to communicate the "Piazza" theme. Following the selection of the design for the first 5 of the 15 Winter Olympic sports pictograms, the design style for the overall Look of the Games emerged. Over the next 9 months, working in close cooperation, the TOROC/Iconologic team refined the Look of the Games color palette and graphic design elements that will create a cohesive visual environment during the Torch Relay, in the competition venues and the city of Turin during the Games—on everything from banners, fences, the field of play, tickets, maps, uniforms and structures, to name a few.

"Iconologic's experience designing the Look of the Games in Atlanta coupled with Brad's ongoing role of overseeing the Look of the Games development for the International Olympic Committee made Iconologic a logical partner with our design team," said Andrea Varnier, Director of Communications and Image at TOROC. "From helping us judge the Torino 2006 emblem and mascots, he has played an important role in shaping the image that we will send the world next year."

Background on the "Piazza" concept:
"Piazza," the concept for the Torino 2006 Look of the Games is a uniquely Italian solution, strongly rooted in history while clearly pointing to toward the future. The piazza is the perfect Olympic and Italian metaphor for expressing the Ideals of the Games—friendship, fair play and respect—while offering a modern interpretation of the Italian spirit. The piazza is full of contrasts—different structures, cultures, lifestyles, rituals, languages, opinions and beliefs mingle—each retaining their unique character while drawing energy from others. It is here that ideas are born and dreams are realized. Tradition exists with innovation. Art with commerce. History with modernity. Expression with restraint. Torino is a city of arched promenades, a city to be discovered, a city of texture. "Piazza" captures these unique characteristics in several dynamic ways:

1. Transparency: this modern, cutting-edge style is used throughout the core Look graphic, creating a virtual window into the unique hidden aspects of the city. This same technique makes the Sport Pictograms unique from every other previous Olympic Games. Colors blend together to create new, rich tones and hues that reflect the Italian landscape.
2. Contrast is the essence of Torino and is expressed visually in 3 ways in the core Look graphic:
• Day/night—this contrast is captured in the rich color palette that reflects the impact that natural and artificial light plays in the city and mountain experience. The color palette, reminiscent of De Chirico's Futurist paintings from his days in Torino, captures the drama and innovation of Italian style.
• City/mountains—from the hard, architectural edge of the city, to soft, natural lines of the mountains, the contrast of the shapes and forms define Torino's relationship with the Alps.
• Ice/snow—with the ice venues in the city and the snow venues in the mountains, this contrast plays an important role in the relationship of the sport pictograms to the city and mountain environment.
3. Perspective in art: perfected over the centuries by Italian masters from Michaelangelo to De Chirico, perspective brings a new level of dynamism and depth to the core graphic—"Piazza." For the first time in Olympic Design history, the Look of the Games will not be flat. The dimensional interpretation of the Piazza welcomes the viewer into the story behind the city.

• The Look of the Games is the glue that holds all of the diverse graphic and thematic elements of the Olympic Host City identity together—the host city emblem, the Olympic Rings, the Olympic mascots, the sports pictograms and Games Theme.
• The Look of the Games must be culturally relevant to be successful.
• The Look of the Games communicates the themes of the Olympic Host City at Games time in a cohesive manner, ensuring that all competition and non-venues, and the host city environments have a unified image.
• The Look of the Games enhances the Olympic Games experience for the global broadcast audience, the spectators and creates an energetic environment that enhances the performance of the athlete.
• The Look of the Games extends the Olympic Host City identity and Olympic image in print, Internet, and broadcast, creating a colorful backdrop for the competition and continuity across all elements of Olympic design—from medals podiums to tickets, banners to spectaculars, field of play to sports pictograms.

Iconologic is based in Midtown Atlanta at 40 Inwood Circle, Atlanta, GA 30309. For more information, call 404-260-4500 or visit www.iconologic.com

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