The 2000 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad) and the 2000 Summer Paralympics (officially the XI Paralympic Games), a.k.a. Sydney 2000 were two international multi-sport events that took place respectively from 15 September to 1 October 2000 and 18 to 29 October 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
Bidding[]
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Michael Bryce
Ron Hurley
FHA Image Design Melbourne
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In 1992, Sydney's bid organisers invited several renowned Australian designers, including Ken Cato of Cato Brand Partners and Ken Done, to develop designs for the bid's logo.[1] Ultimately, the organisers agreed upon a design by Michael Bryce and Aboriginal artist Rob Hurley, that would be refined and expanded into a cohesive visual identity by Melbourne-based FHA Image Design; nowadays the Melbourne office of FutureBrand.
The logo itself is an abstract outline of the Sydney Opera House in the colours of the Olympic Rings. The line is described by organisers as "a cultural message expressing the freedom of the Olympic movement and the informal vitality of the city of Sydney".[2] The Paralympics variant is a teal swirl flanked with dots, forming the Southern Cross constellation.
Olympics[]
On 24 September 1993 at the 101st IOC Session in Monte Carlo, Sydney was appointed as hosts the 2000 Summer Olympics, triumphing over Beijing, Manchester, Berlin and Istanbul. It wasn't long after when another open call to designers across the nation went out to design what would become the official emblem, to which FHA would answer once again.
Early in the design stage, FHA implemented some key principles for their emblem. Their emblem wouldn't rest on clichéd imagery of Australia, primarily those of the nation's fauna. Simplicity was also a virtue that guided them, ideally aiming for something that a child could draw in sand. The eventual design they arrived at was met with wide approval from the committee and in December 1995, FHA were informed that their emblem had been chosen to represent Sydney's games.
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FHA Image Design
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14 September 1996
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The emblem, affectionately known as "Millennium Man" or the "Millennium Athlete", is a characterisation of the Olympic spirit and modern Australia; a diverse urban outpost upon a rugged and ancient continent.[3] This juxtaposition of a refined metropolis and untamed landscapes embeds itself in the emblem through combining elements of the nation's past and present. 65,000 years of Indigenous Australian culture are at the heart of the emblem, with it's hand-drawn nature evoking indigenous cave paintings.
The emblem is composed of three elements:
- Like the preceding emblem, the overarching flash represents the sails of the Sydney Opera House; a universally esteemed piece of Sydney's architecture. It's blue color reflects the waters of Sydney Harbour.
- A hand-drawn circle and two strokes are emulative of the sun, giving them their bright yellow hue.
- Three boomerang-shaped chevrons represent the First Nations; the people and culture of the lands which play host to the games. The uppermost boomerangs are yellow, and the lowermost, largest boomerang takes on a red complexion, representing the red soil found in central Australia.
Combined, these elements create the abstracted form of an athlete mid-sprint. In concert with the human form beneath, the flash evokes a lit torch and it's smoke trail, completing the image of an athlete carrying the Olympic Flame.
Setting itself apart from Olympic emblems which came before, the wordmark of 'Sydney 2000' is handwritten as opposed to set in a standard font. The organic nature of the 'spirit script', as it was referred to, was reflective of the laidback, casual and friendly nature of Australia's people. It also allowed the wordmark to stand apart from the emblem, and work effectively as a unique sub-logo.
20th anniversary logo
2020
The emblem was unveiled to the public on 14 September 1996, at a ceremony in Darling Harbour, attended by State Premier Bob Carr and Prime Minister John Howard. A large steel sculpture of the emblem was unveiled, in what was Sydney's first official glimpse at what would come to personify the city in the years to come. In the days before however, the reveal was almost upended by high winds during a storm blowing off a canopy covering the sculpture, revealing an then-incomplete emblem.[4]
The sculpture stood outside the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre until 2013, when the centre was demolished to make way for the International Convention Centre Sydney. It was relocated across from Stadium Australia in Sydney Olympic Park, where it stands today.
Sculpture in Darling Harbour
Workmark beneath sculpture
Sculpture in Sydney Olympic Park
Paralympics[]
Through their efforts to craft the face of Sydney's Olympics, FHA would soon be tasked with the creation of the Paralympic Games identity as well. While the same studio worked on both projects, Sydney's games were staged before a time when both Olympic and Paralympic Games would be designed in tandem with co-ordinated visuals. As such, the identity of the Paralympics had to be distinct from that of the Olympics, but in tune with the ethos of the Paralympics, equally as striking.
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FHA Image Design
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Geometric 415 BT Black Italic
Geometric 415 BT Medium Italic
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The fruit of FHA's labour is an abstract icon which can depict any number of concepts, and overall lends itself best to being subjective, rather than providing any concrete symbolism.[5] The bursts protruding out from the halo could represent unbound energy, an athlete in motion and the crossover from one millennium into the new, among others. The emblem also largely inspired these games' Paralympic Torch, sharing the same staggered design.
While there is no explicit references to Sydney in the emblem, the tips of the bursts are subtly styled in the shape of the Opera House's sails. The colors are taken from the Paralympic Taeguek symbol, but adjusted to befit the Australian landscape; matching the earthy tones of the outback, the city's lush forestry and the waters of Sydney Harbour.
References[]
See also[]
