The Chinese Olympic committee has decided to use seal script as the inspiration for its olympic icons.
Looking at examples of previous icon sets provided on that page, it's obvious that olympic icons have tended either to have a now very tired, bland modern style or very conservative antique styles. The Athens icons appear to be based on an ancient Greek style, which is predictable. Interestingly, so are Atlanta's. Lillehammer's look a bit like cave paintings, while Salt Lake City's are obviously based on the Native American stone engravings you find in that part of the country (I've seen some myself in Colorado).
It is interesting how the conflict between conservative ancio-philia and forward-looking utopianism is visible in something as simple as the Olympics' official icons.
Discussion at Pinyin News.
Posted by Alan Hogue at August 10, 2006 02:38 PMWow. The script really reminds me of Naxi ideographs, for some reason. Regardless, I think the new icons are pretty sweet.
Posted by: Ben Brumfield at August 11, 2006 02:17 PM