Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games - Glasgow 2014 captures ‘defining moment’ in pictogram designs

Glasgow 2014 captures ‘defining moment’ in pictogram designs

One of the most eagerly anticipated design elements of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, the pictograms, are launched today. Visitors from across the globe will be guided round Glasgow by a series of revolutionary designs when the Commonwealth Games come to the city in 2014.

The 17 participating sports will be represented by their unique ‘defining moment’ in the iconic images whose primary purpose is to celebrate sport and aid wayfinding to members of the public, athletes and officials. The icons will be prominent on venues, signage, scoreboards and literature during Games-time, but will also feature prominently in marketing and merchandising efforts in the build-up to the Games.

Having built the overarching brand on the themes of time, data and measurement, the ‘defining moment’ aims to represent that split second a gold medal can be won – when an athlete is crossing the finish line, a swimmer is at full reach touching the wall or a badminton player is high in the air striking the winning shot.

Committed to delivering an athlete centred and sport focused Games, Glasgow 2014 has gone through an extensive consultation and approval process with some of Scotland’s leading athletes to ensure the technical accuracy of the 17 pictograms.

Glasgow 2014 Acting Chief Executive, David Grevemberg, said:

“We’re delighted to give people the first glimpse of images that will be prominent around the city during Games-time, giving them a taste of the excitement to come. Due to the wonderful diversity of the Commonwealth, it’s important that our pictograms are not only attractive to the Glaswegian and Scottish public, but transcend cultural differences to provide an effective point of reference for our overseas visitors.

“I believe we have achieved this and I’m particularly pleased to have done so by staying true to our values of creativity and of being athlete centred and sport focused.

“As an ex-athlete myself, I have been particularly passionate about this project because I appreciate their visual and symbolic significance to the overall Games experience as well as their commercial value and appeal. I’m really proud of the pictograms we have created for Glasgow 2014 - we have developed some truly memorable images for our Games.”

Speaking about the specific design of the new identities, Glasgow 2014’s Director of Communications and Marketing, Gordon Arthur, added:

“The pictogram designs are completely in line with the geometric, concentric rings that have become synonymous with the existing Glasgow 2014 brand.

“The pictograms have continued this theme using rings to construct the athlete represented in the design and the lines have been tapered to ensure we portray muscle definition and movement as accurately as possible.

“This is the first time pictograms have been contained within a circular frame, or bearer, in the history of modern Commonwealth and Olympic Games pictogram design.

“These images belong to Glasgow and to Scotland. I hope the general public will adopt them in the same way they have embraced the Glasgow 2014 logo.”

Reigning Scottish Cyclocross and Junior MTB Champion, Katy Winton, was part of the design process and revealed:

“Glasgow 2014 has looked into finding the most exciting part of the sport which is the sprint finish and being first across the line. Although you may closely associate a sprint finish with the Track event, it also applies to the other disciplines, so as a Mountain Bike athlete I’m really happy about that.

“I was honoured to be asked to take a look at my sport’s pictogram. Looking at the pictograms being produced, along with seeing the progress of the venues such as the Velodrome in the East End and the Mountain Bike track at Cathkin Braes, reminds you that the Games are only three years away which is really exciting.”

Commenting on the efforts made to characterise each individual sport, Scotland and Great Britain Judo athlete Euan Burton - who won bronze at the World Judo Championships in Tokyo last year, added:

“To me, the pictogram for Judo is a good representation of the winning moment and I particularly like the focus on the winning athlete. It’s really smart the way they have gone down the route of using a dynamic move specific to my sport – often you get similarities to Wresting but this pictogram shows something which is very much a Judo technique.

“Only one athlete from each sport is asked to come along and provide their input so it was an honour to be involved in the process. It was great for me to get across what I think makes a winning Judo athlete and to produce something which will last in peoples memory beyond the Games.”

Scotland’s most successful female athlete at Delhi 2010 (with two gold medals and one bronze), Shooting’s Jennifer McIntosh, said:

“I really like the shooting pictogram. I think it’ll be very popular among the athletes and it’s very recognisable to the public as to what sport it represents. It fits in really well with the overall branding of the Games and I’m impressed with how accurate and believable it is.

“I enjoyed being involved in the process and I think it’s really good to get the opinions of the athletes who are hoping to compete at Glasgow 2014.”

The pictograms will be on display to the public for the very first time at the Merchant City Festival over the weekend of Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July as Glasgow 2014 celebrates the landmark of Three Years to Go.

The pictograms will also be available to view online at the official Glasgow 2014 website – www.glasgow2014.com – from today.

Note to Editors

1. For more information please contact Glasgow 2014 Senior Press Officer, Stuart Martin, on 0141 287 6376 or email stuart.martin@glasgow2014.com.

2. USB flash drives containing static and animated versions of the 17 pictograms can be obtained by contacting Stuart Martin (contact details above).

3. The role of the pictograms is to:

a. Be immediately recognisable for wayfinding purposes, regardless of language or nationality.

b. Accurately represent each of the 17 sports.

c. Effectively represent the brand values of Glasgow 2014.

d. Be engaging and memorable.

e. Have visual consistency with the Glasgow 2014 identity.

f. Be ambitious, dynamic and pragmatic.

g. Work effectively across a wide range of material and media.

h. Have commercial value and appeal for merchandising purposes.

4. The pictograms were produced by Glasgow-based creative design agency Tangent. Sport your Trainers campaign – 820,000 people across Scotland supported the campaign and wore their trainers on Commonwealth Day.