Sapporo Winter Olympics
Modernizing While Honoring Origins
The Sapporo Winter Olympics, held in Sapporo, Hokkaido in 1972, was Asia's first Winter Olympic Games. Following a selective competition among eight leading Japanese designers, Kazumasa Nagai’s design was chosen as the official emblem.
Inheriting the visual legacy of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, it represented Japan with the rising sun motif. The silver snowflake pattern — a redesign of the traditional Japanese crest of first snowfall —contrasted with the gold elements used in the Tokyo Olympics emblem.
By organizing information within three squares, the emblem could flexibly transform into vertical, horizontal, or square formats. This mark embodied modernity through its ability to maintain a cohesive identity while adapting fluidly to different applications.
Visual Identity
Continuing to employ the image of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, this advertisement once again used Japan’s sun symbol together with an ancient emblem representing first snowfall to symbolize winter. The advertisement could take horizontal, vertical and square forms, and the fluid yet unified image imparted a contemporary feel to the logo.
Credit
- Art Direction
- Design
