stamp designs for 1968 Olympics

In 1966, Lance Wyman participated in a competition to design the graphics and identity for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Wyman won the contest and his eclectic body of work for 1968 Olympics, including a less conventional typographic logo, pictograms and wayfinding systems, left an impression and today still stand out as one of the most unified, yet unique and colorful Olympic branding systems in history.

“The Mexico 1968 logotype, based on traditional forms from Mexican culture as well as being 60’s Op-art kinetic typography, set the tone for the entire graphics system.” —Lance Wyman

Some of Lance Wyman’s stamp designs for the 1968 Summer Olympic Games marked the first multicolored stamps issued by Mexico. The commemorative stamp sheet “Juegos De La XIX Olimpiada 1968” shows examples of combining multiple ink colors and the effect of overlapping lines to mimic the Olympic Rings in different visual ways. These multicoloured designs represent a “Dove and Olympic Rings,” “The Discus Thrower” and the “Palace of Sport, Mexico City.”

The below stamp sheet for the 1968 Olympics, shows some of Wyman’s more recognizable designs including the “Emblems of Games” and a line pattern based on the Mexico68 logotype integrated with rings.

“...The Mexico68 logotype that I designed was instrumental in winning the competition. The resulting design program, a multidimensional integration of logos, typography and color, developed to communicate to a multilingual audience, was cited by Philip Meggs in the book "A History of Graphic Design" as "...one of the most successful in the evolution of visual identification..." The lessons from this program have been a constant guide to my work...” —Lance Wyman

Starting in 1967 through 1968, Mexico released numerous horizontal stamps designed by Wyman to honor the wide range of sporting events for the 1968 Olympic Games. Here are some examples from my collection.





From two color stamps depicting Olympic sports with silhouette figures in movement, to more symbolic and slightly psychedelic, cluttered designs with intersecting circular rings, Wyman’s visual approaches are playfully varied within one system.