Beyond the Games – Montreal’s Olympic Story
McCord Stewart Museum
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Chapters

Graphic design

After Montreal won its bid to host the Games, graphic designer Georges Huel was made Director General of COJO’s graphics and design department. He assembled a team led by Pierre-Yves Pelletier, a group that included pillars of the graphic design community like Yvon Laroche and Raymond Bellemare, as well as many other associates.

Watch video — Yvon Laroche and Raymond Bellemare Yvon Laroche and Raymond Bellemare are smiling, standing in front of tall bookshelves and a spiral staircase. Both men are wearing dark sweaters.
Graphic designers Raymond Bellemare and Yvon Laroche reminisce.  Video available with transcription and subtitles.
Image details — A leaflet folded like an accordion is standing upright on a surface. Its title, "I know" in French, appears in a speech bubble between two stylized heads, under a text that reads: Games of the twenty-first Olympiad, Montreal, 1976, July 17 to August 1, 1976. The leaflet notably includes the schedule of events.
Pamphlet, Je sais…

The team had to produce hundreds of communications documents—tickets for the competitions, programs for cultural and sporting events, posters, signage, administrative reports and informational leaflets and brochures—as well as a variety of other items like furniture for the Olympic Village.

These designers all adopted the International Style, an aesthetic that expressed both modernity and efficiency. This simple, structured, refined style also featured the occasional use of photography.

Georges Huel’s first creations was the official logo of the Montreal Games. Using the red of the Canadian flag, it skilfully combines the Olympic rings with a stylized podium, forming an “M” for Montreal and an oval stadium track in the centre of the logo.

Image details — Three different copies of the Montreal Games logo each highlight a different element in white against a red background: the three curved lines at the top that suggest the letter "M" and a podium; the oval running down the centre of the image in the shape of a running track; and, at the bottom, the five Olympic rings.
Poster, Olympic Logo (detail)
Watch video — Games’ graphics manual The graphics manual for the 1976 Games lies open to the page entitled, "The Symbol in color." Below a short text written in French and English, six examples of the Montreal Games logo appear in various combinations of the colours red, white and black.
Raymond Bellemare explains the importance of the graphics manual. Video available with transcription and subtitles.

A career in graphic design?

Are you passionate about design? Do you want to learn something new and impress your guidance counsellor? Then check out this video! Loïc Poisson, a graphic design graduate from Université Laval, had the opportunity to meet Yvon Laroche and Raymond Bellemare and ask them about their profession.

Watch video — Loïc Poisson meets with Yvon Laroche and Raymond Bellemare Three people stand side by side in front of tall bookshelves and a spiral staircase. From left to right: Yvon Laroche, Loïc Poisson and Raymond Bellemare. All three are wearing dark sweaters and smiling.
Loïc Poisson meets with Yvon Laroche and Raymond Bellemare. Video available with transcription and subtitles.