omer arbel: olympic medal design process

with the 2010 olympic games in vancouver only days away, designboom has an exclusive inside look at the design process behind the olympic medals. while the final medal design by omer arbel office was unveiled a few weeks ago, OAO actually proposed two design concepts that were rejected by the vancouver olympic committee.

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medal proposal 1 for the 2010 vancouver olympic games

the first proposal began as conceptual point of departure based on the jewelry archetype of the locket. the medal would be made from two parts that would be held together with hidden magnets. the two sides would match together to form a small cavity that would allow the winning athlete to keep a small keepsake such as a photograph or lucky charm within. each medal would have been individually manufactured so each one was completely unique. a small pendant shaped like the cavity within the medal could have also been worn on a day-to-day basis, as a reminder of the medal. while this design presented a very unique proposal, manufacturing constraints, conservatism and budget concerns forced the design office to create a second concept.

medal proposal 1 for the 2010 vancouver olympic games

the second iteration of the design also used two undulating surfaces held together with magnets, representing in abstraction the landscape of vancouver. it was also accompanied by an inner pendant but rather than each medal being completely unique in form, the design proposed a series of set forms. this step of the process also saw the introduction of the overlaid artwork by aboriginal artist corrine hunt. this allowed each medal to remain unique through their combination of artwork and form, while simplifying the manufacturing.

medal proposal 1 for the 2010 vancouver olympic games

however despite the effectiveness of the second proposal, a final proposition was created which is the final design for the olympic medals being awarded. this re-proposition maintained the undulating form for the medal surface (unfortunately identical for each individual medal), with a laser etched, unique ‘crop’ of corrine hunt’s master artwork (still reproduced as a ‘larger canvas’) on each individual piece. medal proposal 1 for the 2010 vancouver olympic games