Official posters of “Where is Waldo?” Eligible for » With hidden mascots

Olympic Games – Clearly, the Paris Olympic Games never cease to be original. After hosting the first opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine on July 26th outside the stadium, or the medal in which pieces of the Eiffel Tower were embedded, here are posters like no other, for this 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics.

Presented this Monday March 4 at the Musée d’Orsay, they have a gigantic appearance “Where’s Charlie?” In a style reminiscent of comic book author Mœbius. In a colorful, festive and slightly dreamlike Paris, the monuments represented are inspired by reality, but deconstructed and reconstructed with Art Deco inspiration from the 1920s.

There were two people behind the design of these posters. parts » (one for the Olympics, one for the Paralympics) that come together in a large poster with the horizontal reading, we find designer Ugo Gattoni, “ recruitment » By Joachim Roncin in charge of games design via Instagram.

Ugo Gattoni’s work on these posters took nearly 2,000 hours, spread over four months. An enormous project where everything was done manually, artisanally, introducing thousands of characters. The level of detail is extremely high as no individual is duplicated. The designer also had fun slipping in eight of the Games’ mascots, the Red Frigates, as seen in this one. “Where’s Charlie?”. And we warn you: it is very difficult to find some …

Unsurprisingly, these posters are full of symbolism and forced passages. Facing a diver in the foreground, which invites you to jump into this image, we find, for example, all the Olympic and Paralympic sports, scattered among the most famous monuments of the capital: wheelchair tennis on the roof of the Arc de Triomphe, ” A marathon for everyone » Crossing the Stade de France suspended in the middle of the Alexandre III Bridge or the Eiffel Tower.

Breaking the code of previous Olympic posters, which were too institutional

The Olympic torch is seen planted in the sea as it returns according to the conditions chosen by the organizers, “ The waves present in the water, for the vibration that the organization wants to impart to these games

And it’s not just Paris on this poster. This is how we find the Marseille Marina (top left), where the sailing events will be held, the Teehupu wave in Tahiti for surfing, the island representing England and the village of Stoke Mandeville (top right), the cradle of the Paralympic sport…

The result is a global poster that is both dynamic and epic, with a story to discover on sport or heritage in every square centimeter. All there are no flags visible, so that no country can be sided or highlighted. Designer Ugo Gattoni wanted a Paris with a surrealist accent, where humor and poetry shine.

In order to address the widest possible audience, the artistic direction of Paris-2024 wanted to break with the tradition of previous Olympic posters, which had been too institutional.

From this Tuesday, March 5, they will start posting everywhere in the capital, especially at bus shelters. These posters, which will also be in black and white versions, will undoubtedly be among the big stars of the products derived from these games. They will especially be available as a puzzle or in a coloring version. A digital version will be released shortly, along with an augmented reality version linked to Snapchat.

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