Isotypes

Isotypes were developed by Otto Neurath. He developed them during WWI to create a universal visual language. Isotypes are all around us. They are used for labeling men's and women's bathrooms. They are also used for road signs, on cell phones, computers, at airports, at the olympics, and the list goes on and on.

The Olympic pictographs were first introduced at the 1948 London Olympic Games. Then they became an important part of design at the 1964 Tokyo Games.

They are used as the official marks for broadcasting, advertising and marketing the games.

There were 35 pictographs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics representing the sports. The designs were named "the Beauty of the Seal." They were based on the strokes used for the seals used in inscriptions on bones and bronze vessels in ancient China.

The Athens 2004 pictograms were inspired by elements of ancient Greek civilization. The expression of the pictogram derives from the black-figure vases.

I had never really thought about the different variations of pictograms/pictographs created for the Olympics. It was very interesting to learn about the design ideas behind the various sets of pictograms. If it wasn't for Otto Neurath we might not have all of the universal symbols we do today. The world would probably be a much more confusing place!

EV

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/2006-08/07/content_658582.htm

http://olympic-museum.de/pictograms/Picto2004.htm