Xose Bouzas / Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas via Reu
The Paris-2024 Olympic posters were unveiled at the Musée d’Orsay, in Paris, on March 4, 2024. (illustrative photo)
OLYMPIC GAMES – Clearly, the Paris Olympic Games never stop being original. After having planned the first opening ceremony to take place outside a stadium, on July 26 along the Seine, or medals in which pieces of the Eiffel Tower were embedded, here are posters which do not resemble no other, for this 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics.
Presented this Monday March 4 at the Musée d’Orsay, they take on the appearance of a gigantic ” Where is Charlie ? » in a style reminiscent of the comic book author Mœbius. In a colorful, festive and slightly dreamlike Paris, the monuments represented are inspired by reality, but deconstructed and reworked, in an art deco inspiration from the 1920s.
Behind the design of these posters wanted in two “ parts » (one for the Olympics, one for the Paralympics) which come together in a single large poster with horizontal reading, we find the designer Ugo Gattoni« recruited » via Instagram by the man in charge of Games design, Joachim Roncin.
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The complete poster for the 2024 Paris Olympics in its horizontal version
Ugo Gattoni’s work on these posters lasted nearly 2,000 hours, spread over four months. A colossal project where everything was done manually, in an artisanal manner, with thousands of characters represented. The level of detail has been extremely high since none of the individuals have been duplicated. The designer even had fun slipping in eight Games mascots, the Red Phryges, to be found as in ” Where is Charlie ? ». And we warn you: some are very difficult to find…
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One of the Olympic mascots represented above the obelisk on Place de la Concorde.
Unsurprisingly, these posters are loaded with symbolism and obligatory passages. Facing a diver in the foreground, who invites you to jump into this image, we find, for example, all the Olympic and Paralympic sports, scattered among the most famous monuments of the capital: wheelchair tennis on the roof of the Arc de Triomphe, the “ marathon for all » crossing the Alexandre III bridge or the Stade de France suspended in the middle of the Eiffel Tower.
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The diver looking into the distance, notably facing the gardens of the Palace of Versailles (top left).
Breaking the codes of previous Olympic posters, which were too institutional
The Olympic torch can be seen planted in the sea because, according to the terms chosen by the organizers, it sends back “ to the waves present in the water, to the vibration that the organization wants to impart to these Games “.
And it’s not just Paris on this poster. We thus discover the Marseille marina (top left), where the sailing events will take place, the Teahupoo wave in Tahiti for surfing, an island representing England and the village of Stoke Mandeville (top right ), cradle of Paralympic sport…
The result is a global poster that is both vibrant and epic, with every square centimeter a story to discover, on sport or heritage. All without any flag appearing there, so as not to take sides or highlight any country. The designer Ugo Gattoni wanted a Paris with a surrealist accent, where humor and poetry are highlighted.
To address the widest possible audience, the artistic direction of Paris-2024 wanted to break with the tradition of previous Olympic posters, which remained very institutional.
From this Tuesday, March 5, they will begin to be posted up everywhere in the capital, particularly on bus shelters. These posters, which will also exist in a black and white version, will undoubtedly be among the big stars of the products derived from these Games. They will notably be available as a puzzle or in a coloring version. A digital version will be released a little later, as well as an augmented reality version linked to Snapchat.
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