This week marked the beginning of the 22nd Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympics Winter Games, in Sochi, Russia.

Ninety-eight events in fifteen winter sports are scheduled to take place at two new venues constructed specifically for the event – an Olympic Park in the Imeretin Valley on the coast of the Black Sea and in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains.

The Olympics have been surrounded by all sorts of controversy and the logo was one of the objects of discussion when it was released. Russia opted for an all typrographic treatment and sochi2014.ru is the first olympic emblem that also forms a web address.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, president of the International Olympic Committee, was quoted: “To prove our commitment to innovation, Sochi 2014 will have a clearly digital Games emblem. Today, we welcome tomorrow. We are offering invitation, an icon and an inspiration to people from across the world to celebrate the thrill of Russia’s first Olympic Winter Games. …”

Its (semi-)mirrored typography is intended to represent Sochi’s location on the Black Sea, “at the meeting point of the sea and the mountains.”

XXII Olympics Winter Games also inspired supporting graphics, which are intended to express the character of modern Russia, while alluding to traditional Russian arts and crafts. The “patchwork quilt” concept appears on the official website, as well as signage, infrastructure and many souvenirs.

Some people around the web were inspired to take the diamond shape and create related graphics.

This Sunday is not only Groundhog Day, it’s also the celebration of one of America’s favorite pastimes, watching football (and extra hyped commercials), plus a good portion of eating. While there is always a debate about spending and ROI for Super Bowl ads, it’s the one time a year that people are actually looking forward to watching the commercials. … and enjoying lots of food.

Pizza parlors across the country are gearing up for Sunday’s big game, because the Super Bowl doesn’t only inspire some great ads, but also some serious eating.

Check out this infographic by FoodyDirect:

As the year comes to an end, we wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of our clients and wish them and their family a happy holiday season and a great new year. You helped make 2013 terrific for Design6˚ and we look forward to an even better year 2014!

In honor of elections occurring across the country today, we thought we would take a look at colors associated with political parties.

While the donkey and elephant had been associated with Democrats and Republicans respectively since the 1870’s, it was not until 1976, when NBC graphics department debuted its first election map on the air, with bulbs that turned red for Carter-won states (Democratic), and blue for Ford (Republican).

After the 2000 election, the color red became associated with the Republican Party and blue symbolic for the Democrats. Thus, red and blue became fixed in the media and in many people’s minds, despite the fact that no “official” color choices had been made by the parties.

Political associations of colors, used to represent either officially or unofficially a political party, may vary from country to country.

A few samples of colors and affiliations are:

• Black is primarily associated with anarchism
• Grey is often used to represent Independent politicians
• Red has widely been associated by the mass media with the Republican Party, despite the fact that the Republican Party is a conservative-leaning party
• Blue is usually associated with conservative parties
• Green is for green politics and environmentalist movements worldwide
• Orange is the traditional color of the Christian democrats
• White today is mainly linked to pacifism
• Yellow is most commonly associated with liberalism in Europe

Vote November 4th!

From pumpkins to candy to costumes — monstrous stats on Halloween, the second most lucrative holiday, which is embraced by children, adults and advertisers alike.