While the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are still on its way, the new Olympic host, Los Angeles 2028, is already making waves with its visual identity that seeks to showcase the diversity of the city. Los Angeles, California, is home to over 10 million people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. In fact, 40% of the city’s inhabitants are Latino, nearly 1.5 million are Asian, and 3.9 million identify as another race, according to the 2020 US Census.
For this reason, the new hosts of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games made the decision to have not just one official logo but several. The “A” in the abbreviation “LA” for Los Angeles, which is part of the emblem, currently has 41 different designs created by athletes, citizens, or commercial partners. In the words of the LA28 Organizing Committee, “a single emblem could never express everything that Los Angeles and the Games represent.”
Mexican Logos
The Aztec legacy was represented in two of the Los Angeles 2028 emblems. One of the creators was Chantel Navarro, a pugilist originally from Hollywood with Mexican roots. “I want the ‘A’ to symbolize Mexican culture because I’m proud to be Mexican,” she stated in her promotional video as a creator. Her design stands out among the others through the use of Mexican pink, its fragmented composition reminiscent of papel picado, and a boxing glove, one of the sports in which national athletes excel.
Nicknamed “Chicanita,” in honor of the Mexican-American boxer Genaro Hernández, she dreams of winning a gold medal and succeeding as a boxer in the Olympic Games. In the United States, she has already been a youth champion seven times at only 20 years old.
Another of the logo creators with a connection to Mexico is Jorge Álvarez. Although he is also originally from Los Angeles, he is not a professional athlete. “El Joy” moved to the City of Angels in 2018 and owns a taco business. Jorge’s “A” is distinguished by its allusion to the typography of Mexican street food stalls. Like the signs of “Super Tortas,” this games emblem uses striking colors like red and yellow.
The road was difficult for Álvarez, who created his design to “inspire people who are going through struggle.” Despite the difficulties of making a living in California, Jorge “El Joy” Álvarez feels like a “true Angeleno.”
Other Diversities
Street art or graffiti has historically been marginalized by other art movements and the artistic elite. However, this exclusion has decreased in recent times, and the Olympic emblems also seek to represent these realities.
Runner Scout Basset also designed one of the emblems for the Paralympic community and in the dreams people have. “I learned that I can be anything and do anything,” said Basset about the lessons Los Angeles taught her.
At the age of 8, Lex Gillette woke up one morning and couldn’t see. Doctors told him he would probably never see again. Years later, he became a Paralympic long jump medalist. He also contributed with his own logo design.
New Emblems
In 2022, 4 logos were added to the list of graphic diversity for the Olympic Games in the United States. Youthful energy, the athlete’s spirit, determination, and boldness are part of the new messages of the Los Angeles “A”s.
Additionally, 5 other emblems were created in 2024. One in honor of basketball player Kobe Bryant, another in collaboration with Ralph Lauren, two designed by athletes, and finally, the logo representing the exchange of the Olympic venue from France to the United States.
Billie Eilish, Creator of LA28
One of the designers who generated the most buzz was Los Angeles-born artist, Billie Eilish. The singer-songwriter of hits like What was I made for?, Bad Guy, and No time to die said she loved the city because “it’s really diverse, and it’s not just one type of people.” The singer’s own brand font was used for the iconic “A” representing the US Olympic Games.
“Every time I come back, I feel like back to myself, back to who I am and my roots,” she stated in the promotional video for her “A”. Eilish mentioned that she wasn’t sure if the design would mean the same thing to her by the time the games were held because she doesn’t know “what my life is gonna be like in 8 years.” She added that she was simply “looking forward to the future.”