Contact: Sarah Haun
Two Twelve Associates
902 Broadway
New York, NY 10010
212 254 6670
212 254 6614 fx
shaun@twotwelve.com

TWO TWELVE'S GRAPHICS HELPED NEW YORK CITY WIN U.S. BID FOR 2012 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

Branding, Publications and Environmental Graphics Helped USOC and the Public Imagine the Olympic Games Experience in the Big Apple

New York, NY, November 02, 2002
Two Twelve Associates (http://www.twotwelve.com), a leading strategic design firm that specializes in branding and identity design, signage and wayfinding, and print and digital media, announces the success of its designs for the NYC2012 bid campaign. On the strength of this campaign, the United States Olympic Committee has made New York City the U.S. Candidate City, with the opportunity to compete against other cities around the world to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

"In the early stages of the Olympic Games bidding process, the graphics are the experience," says Two Twelve principal Ann Harakawa, whose team of graphic designers produced dozens of projects in support of the NYC2012 bid for more than two and a half years. "Words, plans and drawings were all that people had to go on until we used graphic design to make the concepts come to life. Symbols and signs, banners and bid books, brochures and newsletters have created the NYC2012 brand and made it credible and exciting. I'm as proud of the team as any Olympic coach could be."

"The keys were creativity, collaboration and a terrific client,' says Colleen Hall, the associate and senior project manager at Two Twelve who led the NYC2012 program design and implementation, "Dan Doctoroff, Jay Kriegel and the rest of the NYC2012 organization have led the effort with incredible vision and commitment to great design—they understand implicitly what a powerful tool it is for building public support."

The NYC2012 bid campaign was launched in 1999 to convince the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) that New York has the best chance of bringing the Games back to the United States, and ultimately, to win the final vote of the International Olympic Committee. Daniel L. Doctoroff formed the NYC2012 Committee and initiated the bid process, and has since become New York's Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding. Jay L. Kriegel is now Executive Director of NYC2012. Two Twelve helped visualize NYC2012's key message that New York is "The World's Second Home," by:
• creating a graphic identity incorporating the concept of an international flag and pictograms for 32 sporting events
• illustrating how the identity elements could be used in sports arenas, on transportation vehicles, in print and in many other static and animated media;
• producing the 600-page Bid Book which tied these and all other details of the plan together according to USOC regulations;
• designing a regular newsletter for the organization; and
• producing event graphics for the the U.S. Olympic Committee's in-person site visits.

In addition, Two Twelve has developed logos and graphics for major sports championships that NYC2012 has brought to the city as part of its appeal to the international athlete community. These include the U.S. Weightlifting Championships to held earlier this year, and the U.S. Wrestling Championships which will take place in 2003.

As a marketing problem, the bid program had to meet the unique challenges of a situation that is part brand launch, part political campaign. On the one hand, there is a globally recognized brand—the Olympic Games—but the specifics of the brand offering are unknown to much of the target audience. On the other hand, there is a finite period in which to market the concept before the selection date, and it must be done in competition with other candidates on the national stage.

Each design Two Twelve has produced serves as visual and verbal evidence of the city's considerable advantages in terms of pre-existing sports venues, infrastructure, transportation, population and culture. Graphics and imagery communicate breathtakingly how well New York could accommodate a large international event and the diverse crowds that attend it. In short, fully developed design concepts made it easy to imagine the Olympic Games in New York City.

Print and television advertising and additional marketing efforts have been produced for NYC2012 by Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners advertising agency.

About Two Twelve Two
Twelve Associates (http://www.twotwelve.com) is a multidisciplinary design company specializing in the planning and presentation of complex information to diverse audiences. David Gibson founded Two Twelve in 1980, and he and partner Ann Harakawa presently run the firm's New York-based operation. Two Twelve offers a full range of services in print, interactive and environmental graphic design for corporate, institutional and municipal clients nationwide. Important commissions have included the design of the Census 2000 identity, forms and canvassing materials; logo design for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation; signage for Radio City Music Hall and Grand Central Terminal; environmental graphics and wayfinding for KeySpan Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones; and promotions, event graphics and a web site for the Downtown River to River Festival 2002.

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