The archive · Product Ideas · Strategic decision · 2023–2024
W Conran Design's cobblestone 'Look of the Games' for Paris 2024 — D&AD Black Pencil
Paris 2024's visual identity — a modular system of 24 cobblestone 'pavés' inspired by Paris streets — wins D&AD 2025's Black Pencil.
Paris 2024 COJOP · W Conran Design
What it had to solve
Paris 2024 refused postcard clichés: the brief was to dress up a city already famous for its beauty with an identity that captured the true, diverse Paris Parisians actually live in — and to make it scale across stadiums, airports, fan zones and volunteers' uniforms.
How it works
How do you dress up a city already known for its beauty? Paris 2024 refused to fall into postcard clichés and instead commissioned a bold, modular design system that captures the true, diverse Paris — the one Parisians actually live in. French studio W Conran Design took on the brief for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The answer was the pavé, the cobblestone of the city's most iconic streetscapes. The 'Look of the Games' was built from 24 modular tiles — 12 rooted in heritage, 12 in sport — that assemble into endless patterns and adapt seamlessly across venues, streets and touchpoints, from stadiums to airports, fan zones to volunteers' uniforms.
The identity was designed as a living system rather than a fixed logo: pictograms became heraldry-inspired sports blazons, and the look was made to be applied, extended and shared so that each location could speak with its own voice while staying connected to the Games' spirit.
The work won the Black Pencil in Graphic Design at D&AD 2025, plus two Wood Pencils in Spatial Design, and a Silver in Industry Craft at Cannes Lions 2025. Judges called it a breakthrough for sports marketing aesthetics — playful and scalable — and the campaign was credited with a 37% rise in brand valuation, from US$8.3m to US$11.4m after the Games.
Why it lands
- It solved 'dress up an already beautiful city' by taking inspiration from the streets themselves instead of postcard clichés.
- Modularity was the strategy: 24 tiles generate endless combinations, so one system could scale to every venue and object.
- The identity reflected the city's lived reality — pavés, diversity, daily movement — giving Parisians emotional ownership.
- It won across disciplines (D&AD Black Pencil, Cannes Silver) and was tied to a measurable 37% rise in brand valuation.
- By making the look extensible, it turned every venue, airport and volunteer uniform into a canvas for the same idea.
What it did
The system covered the Games across every touchpoint and won the D&AD 2025 Black Pencil in Graphic Design, two Wood Pencils in Spatial Design, and a Cannes Lions 2025 Silver in Industry Craft; brand valuation rose 37%, from US$8.3m to US$11.4m after the Games.
What you can take
When the place is already the icon, make the system the message: a modular, shareable design language adapts everywhere and gets adopted by everyone, which a single fixed master visual never can.
Since then
The Look of the Games carried the entire 2024 Games — from stadiums and airports to fan zones and volunteers' uniforms — and its awards followed: the D&AD 2025 Black Pencil in Graphic Design, two Wood Pencils in Spatial Design, and a Cannes Lions 2025 Silver in Industry Craft. Paris 2024's brand valuation rose 37%, from US$8.3m to US$11.4m after the Games, and the project is now cited as a reference for modular, participatory brand systems that replace one fixed visual with a language anyone can use.
Sources
- Designing Paris 2024 — D&AD Awards Archive
- 2025 D&AD Awards Black Pencils Showcase
- Cannes Lions 2025 : W Conran Design distinguée par un Silver en Industry Craft
- Designing Paris 2024: A Visual Identity Rooted in Paris, Made for the World
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