Creative round-up March 2024

Spring has finally arrived, Easter is nearly upon us and March has also brought with it plenty of bright and breezy design and branding news for our monthly creative round-up! Here is a selection from the last few weeks that’s caught the eyes of the Ingenious team. There seems to be a consistent but unintentional sporting theme so we must have an extra spring in our step…

Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic poster campaign

The International Olympic Committee has revealed two official posters by artist Ugo Gattoni for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games. In the style of Where’s Wally puzzle books, the detailed and lively scenes are visually connected and form the first diptych in the history of the Games. The artist apparently spent over 2000 hours on the designs which include every event in the tournaments, as well as emblems representing the Games including the Paris 2024 logo. The posters are also adorned with tens of thousands of individual figures, all of which are different.

Although Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower are included, the cityscape has been transformed into a fantasy scene with a body of water added. Paris being inland, this refers to Marseille where the Olympic torch will arrive by boat before the torch relay to Paris. There is also a waterway inside the arena, a reference to the River Seine where the opening ceremony will be held.

The colour palette is bright and varied with links to the Paris 2024 design identity, creating a bridge between the master brand and promotional artwork. The posters are on display at the Musée d’Orsay and a colour-in version is also available to buy!

Decathlon rebrand

French sporting retailer Decathlon has existed for 48 years but until now has had only a wordmark and no logo. A recent rebrand by Wolff Olins has addressed the previous lack of logo and created a new icon referred to as L’Orbit. Designed to amplify Decathlon’s position as a leading sports brand, L’Orbit is also intended to reflect its range of products and cultivate a sense of pride in its employees.

Central to the new logo was a need to symbolise the outdoors. This is achieved with a clever mountain and wave design, which it is hoped will quickly become a ‘mark of desire’ (like the Apple logo) and shorthand for the brand’s ethos which has always emphasised care for the planet. A bespoke typeface by Swiss foundry Grilli Type gives a sense of the brand beyond the logo. Playful but highlighting the performance side of sport, while also cleverly targeting all levels from entry to expert. Decathlon’s new identity aims to convey the brand’s dedication to competition, outdoors, nature and the planet as well as the wonders and joy of growth through sport.

New look for Sweaty Betty

After a reworked typeface in 2023 by F37, in which women’s sportswear brand Sweaty Betty was given a capitalised logotype with a subdued character and small imperfection in the form of two differently shaped Y’s, the company has just undergone a brand overhaul by creative agency Fluoro which revives Sweaty Betty’s original signature orange.

The new campaign focuses on being ‘real, representative and relatable’ and is less about doing everything ‘to the max’. With new brand message, ‘Don’t sweat it’, there is a tonal shift towards self-acceptance, and an emphasis on capturing women’s ‘evolving relationship with exercise, as they increasingly prioritise health, wellness and capability over conforming to body ideals.’

A bag made of air

The Air Swipe bag, made for fashion brand Coperni by Greek researcher and visual artist Ioannis Michaloudis, is made of 99% air! Using NASA produced silica aerogel which has a chemical composition similar to gas and developed to catch stardust, it is the lightest sold material on the planet.

Unveiled at Coperni’s F/W 2024 runway show during Paris Fashion week, the pale blue, lightweight bag is delicate but not fragile. Silica aerogel, which forms the shell of the bag, can handle pressure 4000 times its weight and ‘withstand three times the speed of a bullet’ according to Michaloudis, and represents an ‘in-between space’ between science and art.

Exhibition: The Biba Story, 1964-1975

Sixty years ago, Biba style rocked London and a new exhibition celebrating the iconic shop’s cultural importance runs until September 8 at the Fashion and Textile Museum. Founded by Barbara Hulanicki, Biba was created to be affordable and accessible for everyone. From bell sleeve maxi dresses and leopard print swing coats to cans of lobster soup, packs of pin up playing cards, lampshades and makeup, her brand was in the 60’s and 70’s incredibly radical.

Hulanicki’s attitude to bringing in what we’d now call vintage — clothes hung on Victorian hat stands and the then unfashionable Art Nouveau motif— created a unique proposition, future-shaping but with a sense of the historic too.

Well worth a visit during the Easter holidays!

Design an Easter egg for Aldi

And talking of Easter, in a supermarket first, Aldi is calling for shoppers to submit their very own Easter egg designs for an exclusive competition in which the winner will see their design appear on Aldi’s shelves in their 2025 Easter egg range. “Launching this new competition is a fantastic chance to engage with our shoppers and deliver the Easter products they truly want to see on shelves…” says Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK.

Closing date is 31 March and applicants can enter by downloading the template on Aldi’s website and submitting it via email. Open to all ages, what better activity for the coming weekend than creating your very own Easter masterpiece!

For full details go to https://www.aldi.co.uk/Design-an-Easter-Egg