Graphic and Product Innovation

Alex Kemp

2012 Olympics

Handover Gift

A new logo for the 2012 Olympics. I wanted to create a feeling of movement and activity as well as show the year.

Handover Gift

The task is to design a handover gift for the 2012 Olympics that must represent London and identify all the Olympic sports without giving any one of them more importance than the others.

I went on a tour to visit the museums and galleries identified as the most popular in the questionnaire I designed. I sketched the Design Museum using a fine line black pen and felt tip pens.

Using the same process to show the Natural History Museum.

Using the same process to show the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Using the same process to show the Tate Modern.

Using the same process to show the National Portrait Gallery.

Using the same process to show the Tate Britain.

Using the same process to show the British Museum.

My sketches so far had been quick and colourful but I wanted to see what the effect would be of merging some of them together, so using Photoshop I started with the Tate Britain and Design Museum.

Photoshop again, this time for Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery.

Photoshop again to merge the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Photoshop again to merge the British Museum and Tate Britain.

Bringing all of them together to create an interesting skyline. It also creates the effect of a reflection in water at the front. This is a great result.

I wanted to give the previous image a 3D effect so I created some shadows on the buildings at the rear. I think this is my best piece.

I wanted to learn more about 3D, so to help me visualise work on buildings I used clay to make some models.

This represents my visualisation of some run down tower blocks in the rear, Big Ben immediaely in front of them, Putney Wharf and then to the left a typical office block.

My representation of London Bridge in the rear and then three office blocks of various sizes.

From left to right City Hall, Big Ben, and the Gherkin.

Bringing them all togetherto represent the busy and varied buildings of the City of London.

Following on from bringing buildings together I decided to try something different and connect various shapes of paper to create a structure. This was successful so it inspired me to go on and try the same process in foam board.

Photograph of the structure taken from a different angle.

Another different angle.

Bird’s eye view of the same structure. Here you can see that the pieces are connected by creating a slit in one piece and sliding the edge of another piece into it to form a link.

Same idea, but experimenting with different materials. This is cardboard.

Same structure, different angle.

Another different angle.

Another different angle.

I printed some of my photographs of the sky on to cartridge paper and connected the pieces to make a structure. I think that this creates a peaceful feeling.

Same structure, different angle.

Another different angle.

Another different angle.

I printed images of my photographs of London buildings, stuck them on to foam board and connected them using the slit method described earlier.

Closer view of the above structure.

Taking a closer look at the base.

Zooming in you can see I have created the illlusion of rays of light or sunbeams. This was done using Photoshop to add the yellow lines.

Wanting to work further with the effect of light and different materials I moved on to metal.

Same structure, different angle. I like the way the light reflects off the metal.

It is amazing how different the same structure can look when photographed from a different angle.

This is made of shiny aluminium sheets which I cut with strong scissors.

I like the metal structure, but wanted to develop this further so using an electric engraving tool I etched random patterns on to the separate pieces of the structure.

Structure from a different angle.

Another different view.

It is easier to see the effect of the etching on this image. It gives a feeling of movement and excitement rather like fireworks.

My pictogram designs for all 26 Olympic sports

I really enjoyed designing pictograms and took the opportunity to use the colours chosen for the 2012 Olympics to create my own representations of the Olympic Sports. The colours are vibrant, fresh and young and the pictograms create the feeling of movement.

Moving on to experiment on a larger scale. First I tried toscratch patterns on the surface by hand using a drill bit. This was very hard and time consuming.

I I then tried an electric engraving tool which was much easier to use. I wanted to create sporting figures, but it is impossible to control the tool well enough to do this, so I reverted to etching patterns.

I used the tool to create random patterns across the metal. I really like the effect it created.

It is particularly effective with the light shining on it as it catches part of the patterns and brings it to life.

I went round London to take photographs of the various landmarks. Then I thresh-held the photographs.

Big Ben

BT Tower

Methodist Central Hall

London Bridge

The Gherkin

Central Hall

London Eye

National Portrait Gallery

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Underground logo

Trafalgar Square lions

London taxi

Underground train

Beefeater

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace Guard

Statue at Hyde Park Corner

Harrods

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012 Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Olympics London 2012

Left page: Experimenting with different colourways for the Olympics London logo.Above: This was by far the most suitable for my base because it shows up well on the metal and corresponds to the colour of buildings on the structure.

My final pieceView 1

View 2

View 3

View 4

Logo and a section of the sports pictograms on the base.

Close-ups of sections of the final piece