Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta

26th Olympiad

USA

Sports: 31

Events: 271

National Teams: 197

Participants: 10,339

Poster


poster olympic games 1996 atlanta

Design by:    Primo Angeli



  Poster Program 1996

In coordination with ACOP, it was determined that ACOG posters would be well suited to production and distribution by a licensee. At that point, the only poster in print was the Centennial Games logo on a green background.

In 1994, ACOG contracted with Fine Art Limited, already an ACOP licensee for limited edition prints and small sculptures, to add posters to its contract. The agreement established that ACOG and Fine Art Limited work together to decide which artists would create the posters in the series.

Art Direction developed the ACOG Poster Program to embrace a variety of images and artists. One principal aspect of the effort to ensure diversity among athletes was ACOG's requirement that images of competing athletes be free from any specific country markings or national flags. All artists who participated in the Poster Program were given the same set of guidelines, which included permission for them to sign their artwork personally. The program included designer posters as well as fine art posters and limited edition prints. Limited edition prints were issued on a higher grade paper than posters, and their production involved a more elaborate color printing process. Each limited edition print was individually numbered and signed by the artist. Of the 63 posters in the program, 25 were available as limited edition prints. Each poster had a predetermined border that contained the Games logo and the phrase "Centennial Olympic Games" in English and French. The posters were divided into the following four categories.

Sports Series.
A poster for each of the Olympic sports was produced by renowned artist Hiro Yamagata. Each poster in the series included the sport name, the artist's name, and the dates of the Games. Each poster was 18 x 24 in (46 x 61 cm). Fourteen were made into limited edition prints, each an edition of 60 handprinted lithographs.

Designer Series.
These posters featured images created by graphic designers to capture some aspect of the Olympic Spirit. There were 13 posters of various sizes in this series. Among the subjects depicted in this series were IZZY, the torch mark logo, and the Atlanta skyline.

Look Team Series. 
Each of the six firms involved in the development of the Look was asked to design a poster. They were given broad freedom in selecting their content. The images they chose ranged from athletes to doves of peace to pictograms. All posters were 22 x 34 in (56 x 86 cm).

Artist Series. 
With the paintings created for these posters, artists used a more freestyle approach to portraying the Olympic Spirit. Eleven images comprised this series, with themes ranging from women in sports to the Olympic Village. Most were made available as limited edition prints. Among the artists whose work was represented in this series were Emma Amos, Patricia Cajiga, Michele Delacroix, Paul Goodnight, and James Rizzi.

As part of the agreement with the licensee, all fees to artists were paid by Fine Art Limited, which also assumed all production costs. Rights to the original paintings typically reverted to the artists, and ACOG received 100 copies of each poster and two of each limited edition.

Official Poster. As a Games tradition, one poster is selected by the IOC president as the official poster of the Games. Accordingly, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch selected a poster designed by Primo Angeli, one of the original Look designers, one week prior to the Games.

(Source document:   Official Report 1996, Vol. 1, page 140)


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