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Explaining the Hidden Elements in the Design of the Pyeongchang Olympic Medals

Or, "Let's talk about the design of those gold things the U.S. Women's Hockey Team are wearing around their necks"

By Rain Noe - February 22, 2018

in Object Culture

Last night, another thrilling spectacle at the Olympics as longtime archrivals Canada and U.S.A. faced off for the gold in women's hockey. But before I can get to that, let's talk about the interesting, largely unseen design elements of the Pyeongchang events' medals.

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First off, you've probably seen the medals on TV only from this frontal angle:

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The striations appear to be random and fanciful. But if you were up close and could see the edges, a different story emerges. Industrial designer Lee Suk-woo, who established his own ID firm in Seoul just over a decade ago, was tapped to design the medals and wanted to incorporate the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, into the design. After going through 10 iterations, Lee and his design team settled on a version where "Pyeongchang Winter Olympics" is written in Hangeul along the edge, and the characters were then extruded in CAD along the obverse (a fancy word for the front of a coin) to create the striations:

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The reverse of the medals contains the name of the event:

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The Paralympics medals were designed with additional textures representing elements of nature local to Pyeongchang, as well as "Pyeongchang 2018" written in braille:

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Here's a video of Lee explaining him and his team's design process on this project:

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On to the hockey! The rivalry between the Canada and U.S. Women's Hockey Teams has been going on for years, and these women really don't like each other. While checking is technically illegal in women's hockey, apparently no one told these two teams. Here's footage of them clashing and discussing the rivalry.

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The Canadians have bested the U.S.A. in four out of their last five meetings at the Olympics. When women's hockey was first introduced to the Olympics in 1998, U.S.A. won gold; but Canada has handily defeated the U.S. in every Olympics since, taking home the gold each time. Sochi in 2014 was a particularly painful loss for the U.S. (video summary here) that treated the world to a sight we know most of you like to see: Weeping Americans.

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The anticipation for last night's game couldn't have been higher, and once the women took the ice it was clear this was going to be a nail-biter. At the end of the third period it was 2-2, and when the game went into overtime, the Canadians nearly put it away--but had to contend with our brilliant goalie, 20-year-old Maddie Rooney, who kept us in the game with this one:

Overtime expired with no goals and the two teams went into a shootout. Viewers got to see why these two are the best women's hockey teams in the world: Take a look at this ridiculously skillful shot by Canada's Melodie Daoust:

The U.S.A.'s Jocelyne Lamoureax-Davidson answered with some fancy stickwork of her own:

With the shootout at 2-2, it call came down to Team Canada's best player, Meghan Agosta, versus Rooney:

It drives me nuts that NBC is making these videos unembeddable, but you can watch the re-cap of the game here.

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Congratulations to the U.S. Women's Hockey Team! And don't worry, Canada, we know you'll be back.

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Eric Strebel

6 years ago

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Interesting story, well done. I am not a fan of the medals, the proportion are just terrible, unbalanced elements between the actual medal and the tacked on loop at the top, ungraceful and clunky.

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- Luke Fabis
  
  Eric Strebel
  
  6 years ago
  
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  I strongly disagree. The loop serves two functions: First, it gives the medal a loose, dangly, and very showy quality, emphasizing its size and the status it confers, which is exactly what you want to see in a medal presented to a winning, world-class athlete. The simple silhouette has an iconic quality about it that just screams, "Medal!" Second, it reflects the blocky form of the Hangul characters that make up the snowy ridges of the medal, and hints at the delightful surprises for the recipient to enjoy. I'd say it's a particularly well executed design.
  
  To be completely honest, considering the projects you've put up on your YouTube channel, well... You know the saying about bricks and glass houses.
  
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  - James Tan
    
    Luke Fabis
    
    6 years ago
    
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    (Shots Fired!) Completely agree though I love how the ridges catches the light, knowing now how those ridges are extruded from letters on the perimeter makes them even better in my opinion. The proportions work from up close to the nosebleed in a stadium, at a glance you know its a medal and not just a fancy necklace.
    
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  - Eric Strebel
    
    Luke Fabis
    
    6 years ago
    
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    While I think the text element is clever, it’s a neat design detail. Step back and look at the big picture here, the “Proportions”. In the classic western Bauhaus sense it's not attractive, awkward is what I would call it. Perhaps there is some sort of eastern philosophy the designer is using that I am not aware of. I will also give you the fact that the games were held in the East, so there can definitely be some bias toward that culture in the design and I can see that there clearly is some. Let me break it down. See attached mark up.
    
    The proportions are off. If the main part of the medal represents the dominant form in the group then it is totally over powering the other two elements (the subdominant and the subordinate, the top loop and the ribbon). There is no clear delineation between the two remaining element, they are fighting each other for relevance. I also fail to see how the blocky loop has the same design language as the medal does. It does not flow from one element to another. Not even close in my opinion, I don’t buy the reasoning you mention. I also think the relationship to the user is a bit off. An athlete that performs at this level and wins a medal is a bit larger than life. Thus the medal is a bit over sized. I get that! I also feel that most athletes are graceful and the medal is not very graceful and certainly the elements that make up the medal are not graceful in relationship to each other or to the user. So, I am a bit torn on that point.
    
    Good design is nailing your basic proportion and having a good concept and a good relationship to the user.
    
    If you want more information on the Bauhaus fundamental 3D design concepts I mention above check out the “Elements of Design” by Gail Greet Hannah
    
    As for my for design work, you would be hard pressed to find a product that I have designed that has as poor proportions or delineation in concept as this medal. As for the videos I make, they are not the greatest videos ever made, but, they hold their own. I am still working on making better videos every day. Look for more soon! :-)
    Please share your design videos, I would like to check them out and see your contribution to the design community.
    
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- amunta nul
  
  Eric Strebel
  
  6 years ago
  
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  Z
  
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  The site won't let me respond to your latest message so I'll leave my reply here.
  
  You keep saying how the design is poorly executed but you're not identifying how you would change it. Maybe photoshop something together how you would have designed it? That might make a good youtube video.
  
  Personally I find it one of the most attractive olympic medals to date. I'd argue the proportions are fine, the thickness of the loop feels homogeneous to the width of the ribbon.
  
  "...the dominant form in the group then it is totally over powering the other two elements" Funny how dominant features tend to do just that.
  
  "I also fail to see how the blocky loop has the same design language as the medal does" I think this is more of an eastern design choice, it feels like a homage to Korean calligraphy. Simple, bold strokes.
  
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