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2013
Ever since I was a little kid, I have been fascinated by the Olympic Games. Back then it felt like the whole world would stop – and we all watched the best athletes of each country compete. Even people who don't follow the Olympic Games cannot help but know when it's happening and whether their county got a medal. It's a true global event.
During the last Summer Olympics (London, 2012) Nike was producing the uniform for the Estonian track and field team as well as the medal stand and lifestyle products. Estonia got the Nike “V” template, which was the same as Brazil, Canada, Germany, Russia, Ukraine and a few more. The template was the same for all the counties but with different colors mostly matching the country's flag with some slight typographical variations. None of these countries had much of a unique visual identity.
The clothing for the Olympic Opening Ceremony is usually produced by a local company, and Nike for example produces the track and field uniform that athletes actually compete in, as well as the general "training" clothing all the athletes wear in between events. That’s why it always looks so different from the one that athletes wear during the opening ceremony event.
Besides the opening ceremony uniforms, and the standard track and field uniforms, other sports such as sailing can have their own contracts for specific uniforms that Nike may not produce. However, the moment the athlete is not competing he or she goes back to wearing the general "training" clothing which is produced by Nike. These set of uniforms are coming from the Estonian Olympic Committee which Nike has worked with since 2007.
With all these things in mind, I decided to develop an official olympic uniform concept for the country of Estonia for the summer Olympic Games which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The idea was to establish a design language which would have patterns, typography and graphics which are based on traditional Estonian symbols and colors, thus bringing Estonia's unique and rich culture to their Olympic uniform.