The idea for the Olympic appearance in Hamburg 2024 completely reflected the mindset “Reflecting the Spirit of the Games”. In doing so, the logo made reference to what made Hamburg unique among other candidates: the water mirror.

Condensing the element of water to a round form appearing to let the water flow dynamically, and a mirror, in which the world and sporting community are reflected. These aspects are then symbolized by the reflection of the Olympic colors on the surface of the water.

The corporate design further pursues the concept of the water mirror. The figurative mark was the heart and point of departure for a dynamic design system that placed water at the center of all applications. The typography formed a special highlight as for Hamburg 2024 a special font was developed exclusively for the corporate design: Baltic. The font was inspired by the architecture of Hamburg’s Hafencity quarter, and combines dynamic pen stroke elements with a compact, legible grotesque font.

On November 29th, 2015, 3 days before the international launch, a referendum was held, which delivered the vote of “No” forcing Hamburg to withdraw its candidacy. Shortly before the referendum, a logo concept was created to represent the City of Hamburg internationally as a Candidate City and was officially selected in a multi-staged voting process with the German Olympic Federation, the German Federal Department of the Interior, the City of Hamburg, the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, the City of Kiel, the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein and the Candidacy Committee.

The logo was then officially accepted and released by the German Olympic Federation and the IOC (International Olympic Committee). Furthermore, due to the substantial interest of people throughout Germany, media outlets, such as the BILD newspaper published the logo and the film – despite the negative referendum.

A candidate logo for Olympic and Paralympic Games has very specific design guidelines and, compared to the logo for the games themselves, its primary objective is to address an international audience and, in this case, to represent Germany.

This logo and corporate design was commissioned to be developed for the official unveiling of Hamburg’s candidacy for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was the first candidacy based on the new IOC charter for sustainable olympic games. Planned for Hamburg, surrounded by the element of water, in the heart of the city, 80% of medals were to be awarded within a 10 km radius.

This logo and corporate design should be able to represent the compactness of the games, directly on the water front and embedded in a sustainable urban development.