Jenny's Noodle

The Olympic pictograms designed by Lance Wyman for the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City. Hey, isn't that the Target logo? [Image Credit: Olympic Games Museum]

Since they were first introduced for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany, over the years, designers have tried to update the sports pictograms—some more successfully than others.

Nothing against the 2010 Vancouver pictograms, but I happen to like the sort of Op Art, Minimalist style of the icons for the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, designed by Lance Wyman.

(Preview the pictograms for London 2012 here—what do you think of the new designs?)

In the following video, Olympic Icons: An Animated Appraisal (courtesy of The New York Times), designer Steven Heller traces the evolution of the Olympic pictograms.