Getting local kids involved

Two years before the start of the 2012 Games, we received a small brief to produce a leaflet to encourage local children to get more involved. Part of a wider programme of engagement, LOCOG was finding it hard to connect with local children. By this time, we had built a reputation on the 2012 design roster for challenging and stretching briefs, so LOCOG knew by selecting ThreeTenSeven (formerly Thompson), it was going to get much more than just a leaflet in response and a creative solution to help solve the problem.

Enthusiasm and resourcefulness

As at all stages of the build up to the Olympics, budgets were very limited, and we had to rely very much on enthusiasm and resourcefulness to get the most out of the brief. We wanted to produce something that could demonstrate the spirit of involvement and be interesting enough in its own right to get the attention of the local children. Our inspiration was to use an old idea and show the children how ideas can be taken, re-engineered and brought back to life for use today.

Inspired by the past

Our starting point was to gather a list of Olympic facts, some which would be known, but many which would not. We took inspiration from Charles and Ray Eames’ House of Cards, and produced a small, stackable set of cards. Each housed an Olympic fact, was branded in the 2012 identity and featured images designed to inspire. This interactive approach went down extremely well, helping to get local young people involved in the build up to what would become one of the most successful Olympic Games ever.