Symbols

To begin my research on Olympic pictograms I wanted to look at the designs from the begging of the olympics to the current designs. On looking through the designs the set that stood out to me the most were those designed for Mexico City in 1968. This set of pictograms is different to the other designs as a 'person' is not used in the image and instead an object related to the sport is featured instead. This is something that I would like to experiment with in my sketches rather than going for the typical choice of a silhouette. The colour of the square is also specific to the sport which improves the recognisability of the pictogram.   

Taking into consideration the above designs I have sketched some ideas for a Badminton pictogram. I firstly focused on the shuttlecock as a pictograms main purpose is to remain simple and universal.

Research:

Sketches:

Illustrator Version:

To carry my designs on to the next stage I researched badminton further to gather a greater understanding of previous pictograms and the equipment used in the sport. 

Research:

Sketches:

From the nine drawings, the more successful are the first three as they have a main focus of the image rather than the eye being draw to the racket and then the shuttlecock. It is important to keep a pictogram simple as it will be displayed in a range of sizes and medias. This has led me to the design decision to continue with the design focused on the shuttlecock. Although the universal design needs to remain simple, I am going to experiment with colour for the background of the silhouette as this is something that I think was successful with the Mexico City designs as it gave the image a place as well as making it stand out in any setting. 

Court Colour (London 2012):

Final Design (Court Colour (London 2012):