Monday, June 16th 2008
London 2012 Olympics - Any ideas for the mascots?
Meet the Fuwa.
The official mascots of the Beijing olympics. Consisting of five members that incorporate fish, giant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and swallow designs, they roughly correspond with the five elements of Chinese philosophy: water, metal, fire, wood, and earth.
The Fuwa each have as their primary color one of the colors of the five Olympic Rings that stand for the five continents. The five Fuwa are named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini.
The history of Olympic mascots is somewhat turbulent. Atlanta 96’s Izzy was not well received, Barcelona’s Cobi in 1992 was initial described by the designer as ‘a dog that looks as if he has been run over by a heavy goods vehicle’.
It’s a pretty complex brief; design a mascot for an event that is participated, attended, and watch on television mainly by adults. Yet our cute metaphoric friend must appeal to children of all ages.
As well as all this it must have a strong message – the initials of the Fuwa in Chinese come together to create the Chinese message Běijīng huānyíng nĭ or, Beijing Welcomes You.
Oh, and it has to look good on pencil sharpeners and lunch boxes too!
Posted by Richard on Monday 16th of June 2008 at 4:29pm
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