I am glad I was given a chance to design the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony Program Book. The book is printed in black only with about a dozen spreads in black and silver. The motifs of each spread are graphically abstracted versions of any given segments, inspired by either the mood or the story of the segment itself, as well as the quotes, narrated during the show by Donald Sutherland. Two distinct graphical look serve, first, Protocol part (shallow relief, impasto painting with white/grey paint on white canvas) and second Cultural part of the show (futuristic mystical 3D strokes printed in black and silver ink)
End papers of the book served to connect the book’s styles with VANOC’s core fusion.
Look for the Protocol pages.
Protocol – Countdown and Welcome (snowboarder jump)
Protocol – Song of Peace, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” perfored by kd lang
Un peu plus haut, performed by Garou supposed to represent the Torch Journey…
Cultural – Hymn to the North.
“I am to Canada as a refugee… 45 years later for me Canada is a refuge still” Joe Schlesinger
Cultural – Sacred Grove
“The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air, the fragrance of the grass, speak to me . . . and my heart soars.” Chief Dan George
Cultural – Rhythms of the Fall
“Know by the thread of music woven through
This fragile web of cadences I spin,
That I have only caught these son,
Since you voiced them on your haunted violin.” Pauline Johnson
Arrival of the Torch & lighting of the Olympic Flame
Book typography and layout Chad McCallum. Great help from Hemlock printshop team.