Creating the visual identity for the Olympic Games involves many design challenges. Alongside reflecting the culture of the host nation, it must also communicate universally to audiences around the world. The final identity must remain cohesive across all aspects of the Games, from the medals to the ticket stubs, with each element working together to create a distinctive whole.
Watch the videos below and answer the following questions to explore how these challenges can be overcome.
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What does designing the Olympics and Paralympics entail?
Questions to Ask Children
What do designers need to create for the Olympics?
Why is it important to have a design that unites the Olympic games across the city?
How might designers present the culture of their city through design?
If you were designing an Olympics in your local area, what might you take inspiration from?
London 2012
See how design can generate discussion.
Questions to Ask Children
Do you think the design for London 2012 represented the UK? Why?
Do you like the design? Why?
Do you think that discussions about whether the logo was suitable is a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
Munich 1972
See how design was used to rebrand post WWII Germany for the 1972 Olympic games.
Questions to Ask Children
Describe the colours and shapes that you saw in the designs for the 1972 Olympics.
What do you like/dislike about the design? Why?
How does the design make you feel?
Do you think the design was successful in rebranding a post war Germany? Why?
Los Angeles 1984
Find out how the design of the Olympics was spread throughout the city with bright and colourful installations.
Questions to Ask Children
Describe the colours and shapes that you saw in the designs for the 1984 Olympics.
How does the design of the 1984 Olympics make you feel?
Do you like the design from the 1984 Olympics? Why?
A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to the Olympic ethos.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However, external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Olympic Values
“The three values of Olympism are excellence, respect and friendship. They constitute the foundation on which the olympic movement builds its activities to promote sport, culture and education with a view to building a better world.
The original values of Olympism as expressed in the Olympic Charter were to “encourage effort”, “preserve human dignity” and “develop harmony”.
Over time, they have evolved and are now expressed in more contemporary terms as:
Striving for excellence and encouraging people to be the best they can be.
Demonstrating respect in many different manners: respect towards yourself, the rules, your opponents, the environment, the public, etc.
Celebrating friendship, which is quite unique to the Olympic Games – an event that brings people together every few years.
This is the idea of setting your rivalries aside. There is more that unites us than divides us.
Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.
The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” – IOC
Download a pdf about Olympisim and the Olympic values.
Questions to Ask Children
How can you bring the values of the Olympics into your everyday life?
Which Olympic value is your favourite and why?
If you could make up your own Olympic value, what would it be and why?
The Olympic Rings
Questions to Ask Children
What do you think the 5 rings represent?
Being an Olympian
Questions to Ask Children
What do you see in these videos?
Can you spot any Olympic Values in action? Where?
How do the videos make you feel? Why?
The Olympian Refugee Team
Questions to Ask Children
Why is it important that there is an Olympic team for refugee communities? What is the purpose and how does it align with the Olympic ethos?
A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce pupils to character design in animation.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However, external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Pixar: Designing Inside Out Characters
Pixar Animation Studios’ character art director Albert Lozano joins Variety’s David Cohen to reveal the thinking behind the ingenious emotions of the hit “Inside Out.” – Variety
Questions to Ask Children
Can you think of some different shapes that you feel describe joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust?
Which features have the animators used to express the character?
Which character is your favourite? Why?
Kung Fu Panda
Raymond Zibach, Production Designer gives insight into how characters were designed on Kung Fu Panda and the importance actors give to the intricate designs and expressions of their characters. –ACMI
Questions to Ask Children
What’s your favourite animal? What kind of personality might it have?
Which features have the animators used to express the character eg, facial features? nose? eyes? mouth? Or other features?
What Makes Good Character Design?
In this interview series with Disney Animation Studio Artists, animators talk about what is a good character design for each artist. – MoGraph Mentor
Questions to Ask Children
After watching this video what do you think is the most important feature of character design to you?
A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce pupils to Olympic and Paralympic mascots.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However, external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
The Olympic mascots are fictional characters, usually an animal native to the area or human figures, who represent the cultural heritage of the place where the Olympic and Paralympic Games are taking place. Ever since the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the Olympic Games have always had a mascot. – Wiki
Find 3D models of Olympic and Paralympic mascots here.
Paris 2024: Olympic Phryge
The name of the Paris 2024 mascot is Olympic Phryge, based on the traditional small Phrygian hats that the mascots are shaped after. The name and design were chosen as symbols of freedom and to represent allegorical figures of the French republic.
The Olympic Phryge takes the shape and form of a Phrygian cap. As Paris 2024’s vision is to demonstrate that sport can change lives, the mascots will be playing a major role by leading a revolution through sport. The Olympic Phryge is decked out in blue, white and red – the colours of France’s famed tricolor flag – with the golden Paris 2024 logo emblazoned across its chest. – IOC
Questions to Ask Children
Why did the Paris Design Team choose a hat as their mascot?
What kind of personality do you think this mascot might have?
What do you like or dislike about the mascot? Why?
Created by Iris Design agency. According to the story by Michael Morpurgo, Wenlock’s metallic look is explained by the fact that he was made from one of the last drops of steel used to build the Olympic Stadium in London.
The light on his head is based on those found on London’s famous black cabs. The shape of his forehead is identical to that of the Olympic Stadium roof. His eye is the lens of a camera, filming everything he sees. On his wrists, he wears five bracelets in the colours of the Olympic rings. And the three points on his head represent the three places on the podium for the medal winners. – IOC
Questions to Ask Children
What kind of personality do you think this mascot might have?
What do you like or dislike about the mascot? Why?
The mascot was designed to capture the spirit of London (vibrant, diverse, busy etc), how it could be adapted to reflect your local area?
Designed by Birdo Produções, Vinicius is a mix of different Brazilian animals. His design takes inspiration from pop culture, as well as video game and animation characters. Alongside his Paralympic Games colleague, Vinicius represents the diversity of the Brazilian people and culture, as well as its exuberant nature. – IOC
Questions to Ask Children
Describe the different features you can see in the mascots.
Why do you think Brazil chose to create an mascots based on nature?
What kind of personality do you think the mascot(s) might have?
What do you like or dislike about the mascot(s)? Why?
Brazil is home to the biggest rainforest and most famous carnival in the world. Do you think the mascots reflect Rio? Why?
A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore Olympic and Paralympic Medals.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However, external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Olympic and Paralympic Medal Design
“The gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to competitors at the Olympics and Paralympics represent the highest levels of athletic achievement at the Games. The design of the medals is the responsibility of the host city’s organizing committee, and varies with each edition of the Games.” – Olympics.com
Explore the videos and resources below to focus a discussion about medal design.
See medals and other artefacts from past Paralympic games in 3D here.
Paris 2024
“On each medal, original iron from the Eiffel Tower was cut into a hexagon, the geometric shape that evokes France to the point of becoming its nickname. Placed in the centre and embossed with the emblem of the Paris 2024 Games, this piece of heritage fits elegantly among the gold, silver and bronze to give the medals a two-tone effect. ” Find out more at Olympics.com.
Questions to Ask Children
What can you see?
What does the medal represent?
Do you like the medal design? Why?
Is there a significant object in your life you might incorporate into a medal? Why?
Rio 2016 Paralympic Medals
The medals for the Paralympic games in 2016 had a distinct rattling noise so that visually impaired athletes could distinguish between the gold, silver and bronze medals.
Questions to Ask Children
How else might you make a medal accessible for those with visual impairments?
Vancouver 2010
Choose clips from this video to show as not all of it may be accessible for younger pupils.
Questions to Ask Children
Does this medal challenge your existing ideas of what a medal looks like? Why?
What can you identify on the medal?
Olympic and Paralympic Medals
Find images and information about past Olympic and Paralympic medals here.
Questions to Ask Children
Which is your favourite medal and why?
Can you find out how the images on the medals are designed to represent the country? eg. geographical landscape, historic moment etc
Drawing from Life with Lance Richardson: 3 Sketchbook Exercises
The Sketchbook Journey
Video enabled resources: Sketchbooks
Artist Residencies in Schools
Talking Points: Samantha Bryan
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Samantha Bryan.
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
Samantha Bryan
“Working from her garden studio in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Samantha Bryan has produced a new body of work for her exhibition at YSP celebrating 20 years of making. Known for creating distinctive figures, she has gained a worldwide cult following.
For two decades Bryan has been making humorous yet industrious fairy-like creatures; adorned with items from her eclectic hoard of buttons, spotted feathers, seed pods, dyed leathers, and contraptions influenced by Victorian flying machines. She combines these materials and found objects to inform their intriguing personalities.” – Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Introducing the BAAV Blimp
Brain’s Ariel Application Vehicle is a new cutting edge tool welcomed by the Fairy Dust Industry. This aircraft can do in minutes what it would take ground-based workers days to complete. Its increased capacity makes dust spreading incredibly efficient. It’s hopper can hold 120 pounds of dust and can sprinkle around 80 acres per hour. Revolutionary for fairy life.
51 x 41 x 21cm (w,h,d) 2022 Image: Red Photograpgy
Introducing… Brain’s Bottom Warming Garments for fairies. Vital for high altitude flying. 36 x 12cm x 10cm (h,w,d) 2022 Image: Joanne Crawford
Fairies often find themselves flying at high altitude. A dangerous pursuit with its many risks. The most obvious and most disastrous outcome would be ‘wing or limb freeze’. The consequence of which is high speed plummeting fairies. This is easily preventable if body temperature is maintained.
Brain’s Crash Helmet, designed specifically for accident prone fairies…
36 x 12cm x 10cm (h,w,d) 2015 Image: Jess Petrie
The clumsier variety of fairy would always be advised to wear a crash helmet rather than a standard issue helmet. The Crash Helmet offer greater head coverage and substantial inner padding for increased protection.
The fairy is wearing a tan leather flight suit, hand stitched with patch detail. It stands securely on a wooden base that can be easily mounted on the wall should you wish to do so. It features a typed label and is signed on the reverse
Brain’s Dust Distribution Vehicle (Glider)
35 x 31 x 35cm (w,h,d) 2014 Image: Edward Chadwick
Designed to enable a busy fairy to spread dust easily and efficiently
Questions to Ask Children
What objects can you see in Samantha’s fairies and inventions?
What do you like about the fairies and why?
Which fairy is your favourite and why?
How has Samantha created personalities for the fairies? Consider accessories, outfits and props.
Do you think the personality grows as she creates the fairies or she plans it in advance? Why?
If you were going to design a fairy based on you, what personality traits might it have? And how could you highlight those traits through accessories, outfits and props?
