Paris 2024 Olympics: mascots to be found using the “where’s Waldo” method, discover the official Games poster

In this huge Olympic arena, where medals, the skytrain, the torch, Marianne, iconic sites of the 2024 Games and boats on the Seine mingle, you won’t find Charlie (a reference to the British gamebook series). created by Martin Handford), and 8 Frigs. Talismans in the form of Phrygian caps are skillfully hidden in the decor. The little clue, the eighth one, the hardest to find, comes in the form of a keychain.

The official posters for the Paris 2024 Games, unveiled this Monday, were created as a mural. There are two of them – one for the Olympic Games, the other for the Paralympic Games – but together they form an incredible picture that boggles the imagination. “The idea behind these Games was to tell the full story of Paris 2024,” explains Joachim Ronsin, head of design for Paris 2024. “These are not the Olympic Games on the one hand and the Paralympic Games on the other, but two events. which complement each other and combine. Together with Ugo (Gattoni, designer), we wanted to create a kind of visual image for the 2024 Games. There is nothing more beautiful than taking sports out of a sports venue. »

“I immediately imagined a stadium city open to the world, time suspended, in which we can stroll through microcosms where Parisian monuments and sports disciplines joyfully coexist,” says Ugo Gattoni. The meeting between cartoonist and designer behind the slogan “Je suis Charlie”, born in honor of the victims of the Charlie attacks, is astonishing. Until now, on Games posters, the logo was placed on a colored background. Paris 2024 went much further.

There are as many men as women

The drawings (150 by 110 cm), which took 2,000 hours of work (by hand), are rich in detail and make you want to stroll through a majestic universe. “A phantasmagoria of sports in the city,” as its creators recall. The Stade de France surrounds the Eiffel Tower, while the Trocadéro offers a balcony overlooking Marseille’s marina and Tahiti’s Teaupoo wave. Under the diver’s view, the Seine stretches out in the foreground with its Bateau Mouches, the heroes of the next opening ceremony, while a statue of a discus thrower, one of the most famous in antiquity, dominates the landscape near the Patrouilles of France. Spectators crowd the windows of Ottoman buildings, and crowds of people pour into the streets.

To symbolize the first equal Games, Ugo Gattoni painted as many men as women. All Paris 2024 markers are reproduced in pink, blue, green and purple tones – the colors of the “look of the Games”, which will be placed at the venues: four additional sports (surfing, breaking, skateboarding and stopovers), iconic places (Invalides, The Palais de la Concorde, the Grand Palais, the gardens of Versailles or the Pont Alexandre III), Belem, the old mast that will return the flame to Marseille on May 8, the trimaran Maxi of the Armel Le Cléach company that will transport it to the West Indies.

Also appearing is the face of Marianne, the symbol of the Paris Games, the torch, the medals (in the hand of the designer) and the Marathon for All, which for the first time will allow the general public to take part in the competition of the games. There are 47 sports represented here: 29 Olympic and 18 Paralympic. Athletes dance and spin with joy.

“We wanted a poster full of symbolism,” sums up Joachim Ronsin. You can look at it for hours and understand the Paris 2024 project. This poster also represents the meeting of Parisian heritage and sports. To achieve the feat, an athlete trains for thousands of hours, which is what Hugo did. He worked for hours to create exceptional posters. »