Queenstown 2026 Olympic Games Branding Manual by Ashley Luppe

XXV OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES HOST CITY IDENTITY

International Olympic Committee

XXV OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES HOST CITY IDENTITY

ÂŠ 2012 by Ashley Luppe Published in 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical. This publication is designed to provide an overview of the Queenstown Olympic Winter Games identity and its components. The contents were written and designed as part of ysdn 4004 Design Workshop in the York University/Sheridan College Joint Program in Design. It is part of an undergraduate research project about the relationship between design and culture. The purpose of this project was to validate my research about the influence of culture on graphic design. This was accomplished through the design of an Olympic host city identity for Queenstown, New Zealand. Typography | Gotham by Hoefler & Frere-Jones Printed in Canada ISBN 874- 3-3528-9386-8

CONTENTS HISTORY & CULTURE 2

New Zealand History

Queenstown History

Maori Arts & Mythology IDENTITY

Creative Concept

Inspiration

Logo

Alternatives

Colour

Typography

Dimensions & Clear Space

Size Requirements

Pictograms APPLICATIONS

Posters

Television Graphics

Tickets

Passes

Buttons

Apparel

Credits

NEW ZEALAND HISTORY Together with being considered as one of the most beautiful countries in the world, New Zealand is also special in being one of the youngest. It was discovered by Europeans as the last huge land mass, and today, this amazing and unspoiled country has many reminders of its rich Maori and Colonial history.

The Dutch were the first Europeans to discover the two islands, naming them Nieuw Zeeland, after the Dutch province of the same name. The explorer Abel Tasman first sighted the land in 1642, although the first visit was not a success as there was fighting between the Maoris and the Dutch.

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (North Island and South Island) and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.

The Maoris were left in peace for the next hundred years until the British explorer Captain James Cook arrived in the 18th century.

During its long isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive fauna dominated by birds, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country’s varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing underfoot. New Zealand’s colourful history commences from the time when the Rangitata Land mass separated from the ancient super continent of Gondwana 80 million years ago, evolving over time to become modern New Zealand. The earliest known settlers in the two islands were the seafaring Maori, who arrived sometime between 1000 and 1300 AD, although some evidence suggests they were there earlier. The Maoris named the new land Aotearoa, meaning “Land of the Long White Cloud”; a name that still seems appropriate today.

The British signed a treaty to colonize the islands in February 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi. While most Maoris were agreeable to this, not every tribe was amenable and this led to more fighting, a period known as the New Zealand Wars. The following year New Zealand officially became a British colony and the New Zealand Constitution Act was established in 1852. New Zealand declared independence from the UK in 1907, although the country remained a part of the British Empire and New Zealanders fought alongside the British in both world wars. This land of amazing natural beauty and nature has a rich history regardless of its young age. European and Maori culture intertwined make a very interesting combination and mixture of mentalities, which created New Zealand in what it is today.

QUEENSTOWN HISTORY Queenstown is one of New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top visitor destinations, sitting on the shore of crystal clear Lake Wakatipu among dramatic ranges. The lake and mountain landscape make it suited to all kinds of adventure. Known around the globe for its scenery, outdoor adventure and lively skitown atmosphere, Queenstown is hard to beat. For many years, people have been drawn to the beautiful lake and alpine areas around Queenstown, starting with early Maori who came in search of Pounamu (greenstone). European settlers followed, with sights set on fertile grazing land. They discovered a whole lot more when shining gold lit up the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waterways. A gold rush sprang up overnight in the 1860s, marking the start of an international fascination with the Queenstown region. Today, around 1.9 million visitors are drawn to Queenstown each year to enjoy their own unforgettable travel experience. Visitors come to experience the awe-inspiring scenery, to search for adventure, to seek out relaxation and rejuvenation, or just to breathe pure mountain air.

MAORI ARTS & MYTHOLOGY The Maori are an indigenous people of New Zealand (Aotearoa), and their culture is steeped in art, both traditional designs as well as more modern ones. Maori culture has historically been oral. This means they had no written language to pass on cultural heritage. As a result carvings and other art forms flourished as a means to pass on ancestry, major historic events, beliefs, legends, and other cultural elements. Today the designs and their symbolism still tell the Maori tales. That’s why Maori symbols form such a substantial part of the national Maori and New Zealand identity and culture. Maori culture is a rich and varied one, and includes traditional and contemporary arts. Traditional arts such as carving, weaving, kapa haka (group performance), whaikorero (oratory) and moko (tattoo) are practiced throughout the country. Practitioners following in the footsteps of their tipuna (ancestors) replicate the techniques used hundreds of years ago; yet also develop exciting new techniques and forms. Early Maori artists used the material at hand to create their totems, carvings, and paintings. These materials were wood, green stone, jade (greenstone – pounamu), seashells, bone, and even skin. The colors black, white, and red are featured heavily in Maori cultural expression. Maori art and designs are an important and powerful part of both the current and historic Maori and New Zealand culture and identity.

Maori Creation Myth The creation of New Zealand is described by the legend of Maui. This god managed, among other things, to harness the sun in order to make the days longer. However, his biggest claim to fame was his fishing up of the North Island, which is described as Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui). A look at an aerial map of the North Island will show how closely it resembles a fish. Maori believe the far north to be the tail of the fish and Wellington Harbour the mouth. Maori describe the South Island as Maui’s waka (canoe) and Stewart Island (Rakiura) as his punga (anchor). Maori mythology plays an important role in the beliefs and culture of modern New Zealand and Maori people.

Maori art

IDENTITY

CREATIVE CONCEPT The creative concept behind the Queenstown 2026 Winter Olympic Games identity is to incorporate and allude to traditional Maori imagery and the customary image of winter, the snowflake. In designing an identity to represent a country as a whole, it is important to use traditional imagery carefully so not to offend, create stereotypes or exclude others. Traditional Maori arts, design and mythology are important and unique aspects of New Zealand’s culture and have been increasingly accepted by New Zealanders as representative of their culture and history. By alluding to the traditional imagery, it allows for all New Zealanders to feel included in the identity of their country. The goal for this identity was to incorporate New Zealand’s culture with a visual representation of winter and snow, the country’s unique landscape, traditional Maori art, design and mythology. As well as, a bright and youthful image, to represent that New Zealand is the youngest country in the World.

The koru form is used in the design as a doublebalanced koru, which symbolizes natural abundance, strength and determination. The koru is reversedout of a triangular shape, representative of the iconic and unique landscape of New Zealand and the mountains in and around Queenstown. The koru and the double-balanced koru can be found throughout traditional Maori arts, particularly woodcarving and Kowhaiwhai, which are traditional Maori decorative scroll patterns that are abstract and curvilinear in form that symbolize prestige and unity. They were traditionally used as a form of decoration, but closer examination reveals sophisticated, mathematical precision involving symmetry, rotation, translation and reflection. The precise design of these patterns is also reflective of the precision of the athletes competing in the Olympic games.

The snowflake symbol incorporates a stylized koru, which is a scroll/spiral shape, often used in Maori art, based on the shape of an unfurling fern frond. Its circular shape conveys the idea of perpetual movement, and its inward coil suggests a return to the point of origin.

The symmetry and reflection apparent in the design of the symbol is also representative of the traditional Maori performance art, Poi (fire dancing). Poi was used as a means of increasing flexibility, accuracy, strength, poise and coordination, which are also very important for qualities for athletes competing in the winter games. Poi involves balls that are attached to flax strings and are rhythmically swung in circular motions. It is this circular motion that the symbol is based on.

The koru symbol, representing a silver fern frond, is very important in New Zealand and Maori culture. The silver fern has also become one of New Zealand’s national symbols and is widely used as the identity and names of many of their sports teams. The silver fern (koru), symbol was also used for its symbolic representation of hope, perfection, awakening, growth, strength, purity, a new phase in life, the spirit of rejuvenation and peace. These traditional symbolic meanings are also representative of the core ideologies of the Olympic games.

This circular motion, creates repetition and symmetry that is found everywhere in nature. Snowflakes illustrate this patterning perfectly. Incorporating and quietly alluding to New Zealand’s national icon of the silver fern and traditional Maori arts and design, into a recognizable snowflake identity to represent New Zealand’s culture and history. The approach to the layout and hierarchy of the information presented in the identity is also suggestive of New Zealand’s youthful and innovative charisma. The horizontal form, alludes

to the original name of New Zealand, Aoteroa, meaning Land of the Long White Cloud. This layout also allows the identity to easily be broken into two parts, (the two islands), and used as separate marks, which has not been done before. Overall, symbol creates a good balance between traditional Maori culture and modern New Zealand culture, while incorporating many of the ideals of the Olympic Games. The imagery used represents New Zealand as a whole, without excluding or focusing on one particular aspect of the culture.

Koru

Double-balanced Koru

Kowhaiwhai

INSPIRATION

Silver Fern

Traditional Maori Art

Poi

Queenstown & New Zealalnd Landscape

LOGO

ALTERNATIVES

Vertical Logo

Symbol

Wordmark

COLOUR The bright hues used in the identity of the Queenstown Olympic Winter Games, are reflective of New Zealand’s youthful nature and allude to the country’s beautiful, picturesque landscape. The bright blue and green are representative of a traditional Maori creation myth that the land was fished from the water.

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The blue is representative of New Zealand’s position in the Pacific Ocean; the national flag also reflects this. Blue is used to illustrate the cool temperatures of the winter season on the South Island. Maori traditionally use a blue earth called pukepoto for personal adornment and to decorate their faces. The Olympic Rings, which are traditionally either the five Olympic colours, or black, are a vivid green in the identity. This allows the rings to stand out with the symbol, as they are the two most important aspects. The green is used to hint at the jade (greenstone/pounamu) found throughout New Zealand. Green is also considered a colour of celebration used by the Maori. In order to unify the identity, a dark gray was used for the name of the host city, Queenstown, and the year, 2026. The colour was chosen as a combination of New Zealand’s national colours, black and white, to create a silver colour, which is also considered a national colour, as it alludes to the silver fern. Black is mainly used for sports teams and events, thus the colour choice is appropriate. Together, the three colours chosen, blue, green and gray, each represent an aspect of New Zealand’s history, culture and landscape. They create a bright, lively and youthful look, which is highly evocative of New Zealand’s culture and people. They can be used as tints and shades for graphic elements to add interest, continuity and variety.

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Queenstown 2026

White symbol

2026

Symbol & rings same colour

Queenstown 2026

White rings

Queenstown 2026

Solid colour

Queenstown 2026

White text

Queenstown

Queenstown 2026

Reversed out

TYPOGRAPHY The typeface chosen for the Queenstown Olympic identity is Gotham, in Medium and Book. Gotham was chosen for its readability and visibility, as well as its geometric structure. Compared to the snowflake symbol, Gotham is more masculine in its form and creates a nice balance between the two. It was also chosen as the typeface because it is reduced to its bare, essential elements, which allows it to be easily read and juxtaposes the shapes and forms of the symbol. With its wide range of width and weights, Gotham can be used in a wide variety of applications and mediums. This will allow for consistency throughout all applications of the Queenstown identity. Gothamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s circular letterforms reflect those of the symbol and Olympic rings, while its geometric lines and shapes add contrast and interest, without overpowering the identity as a whole. The use of two weights also creates hierarchy within the information presented, and allows the most important information, the symbol and the rings, to be seen by the viewer first. Overall, the combination of symbol, rings and typeface work together to create a whole, to reflect the culture of New Zealand. Gothamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sans serif letterforms and clean, modern shapes allude to the youthfulness of the New Zealand culture and people, while creating contrast with the curvilinear forms of the rings and the snowflake symbol.

Gotham

Light