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Olympics 2008

China Olympics Game in Beijing, 2008

Beijing Holds Olympic Design Conference to Seek Best Image

Beijing Organising Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) opened a two-day Olympic Design Conference in Beijing on Tuesday in a bid to find the most appropriate ways to impress the world visually.
Beijing Mayor Liu Qi said in the opening address that through the magnificent and unique "Olympic look", Beijing will unfold the great charm of this global sporting event and the history of China.

Meanwhile, Beijing will also "promote the concept of 'New Beijing, Great Olympics', and demonstrate and elevate the image of Beijing and China in the world", added Liu, who is also BOCOG president.

Those invited to make speech at the conference including a string of Olympic design experts from Olympic host cities including Sydney, Atlanta, Athens, Turin and Lillehammer.

Some of them will be selected to join the panel of judges which will make choice on the design submissions.

Brad Copeland, IOC Look of the Games Advisor, said that they came here not to teach the Chinese designers how to do, but to inspire them by what other host cities have done.

"They should not only look inside but also look outside. Think both ways is really important for the Olympic design," said Copeland, who was also the Design Director of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

In his address to the conference, IOC Marketing Director Michael Payne said that to create a proper image and identity is really significant since the Games will bring together 10,000 of the world's greatest athletes and be watched by an audience of over 3.5 billion people.

"The images you create will have a vast influence on the world's perception of the quality of the Games and the images and presentation of the host country.

"That is why we are gathered here today, to begin the road in defining what that identity should be -- helping China to realize the full potential of the opportunity ahead," he said.

He Zhenliang, China's IOC executive member, said that as the host to the world's top sporting event, China faces the great task of representing its traditions, values and dreams to the world.

"We must create new visual symbols that celebrate the glory of our past -- and the promise of our future. We must create a Look that is unforgettable, because it is the image, which the world sees, that it will most remember," he said.

Source: "China 'peopledaily''