{"id":4594,"date":"2024-11-27T17:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T08:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sports-tokyo-info.metro.tokyo.lg.jp\/tokyoforward2025-legacy\/?post_type=supporter&p=4594"},"modified":"2025-07-04T10:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T01:40:27","slug":"ryo-nakagawa-en","status":"publish","type":"supporter","link":"https:\/\/www.sports-tokyo-info.metro.tokyo.lg.jp\/tokyoforward2025-legacy\/en\/entertainer\/ryo-nakagawa-en\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryo Nakagawa (Designer) – “SUGOI (=Fantastic)” that will become a common language around the world at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

Create his own design even within a fixed frame.<\/h2>\n

\u2015Your logo has been chosen as the logo for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25. Please tell me honestly how you felt when you heard the news.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>I was really happy. In competitions and public submissions like this one, no matter how good I think my work is, I have no idea whether my logo will be selected or not. The difficult part is that I can’t go to the screening site and explain it myself, and I don’t know what kind of people will choose and what criteria they will use. There are various types of designers, and some people are highly sensitive and create intuitively. However, I’m the type of person who first analyzes the design before starting, and organizes information about what is required and what criteria should be used when designing. I am the type of person who place importance on verbal sharing between the purchaser and the creator, and design while coordinating words so that both parties can face the work from the same position, <\/strong><\/span>so in that sense, competitions and public submissions are difficult for me. That is why I was really happy when I received the call that I had been selected.<\/p>\n

\u2015What regulations did you follow when creating the logo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>That is the interesting part. In 2019, when the International Association of Athletics Federations changed its name to “World Athletics” , the logo was redesigned. Accordingly, it has been decided that all subsequent tournaments sponsored by World Athletics will use the outer frame of the logo, in other words, the fan shape. This time it was the same, and the template was to use the fan shape for the outer frame and the words “WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS”, and the requirement was to design the inside of the fan shape and the words “TOKYO 25”.<\/strong><\/span> In general logo competitions, the design is often free, so it is very rare to have a rule like this. In addition to that, other specific things we were looking for in the logo were “Tokyo-ness” and “the dynamism of sports”.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"The
What to include in this fan shape?
\nI found the requirements given interesting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2015I think it would be difficult to have a fixed outer frame.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>It was my first experience designing within a fixed outer frame, so I was worried about that. Perhaps the challenge this time was how to make use of the outer frame for other applicants as well. If you look into past logos for World Athletics, most of them have a frame with a map or something famous about the area inside. There were a few things that were shown in color composition, but I wonder if the outer frame is inevitable… Since that was the rule, many of the pieces felt like I had put something inside, so I decided to bring the work to a point where it looked like I had designed the frame itself.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hinomaru (Japanese flag of the rising sun), the dignity of aiming to be the best, diversity and harmony<\/h2>\n

\u2015How did you actually make the design?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>\u300cBased on the association of “Tokyo-ness”, I started with the design of the word \u201cTokyo\u201d. Why I started from the letters… is that that I personally like the design of the letters. Tokyo is represented as “TOKYO” in alphabets, the letters are striped, and the stripes have 8 to 9 lines to represent the lanes of a track and field track… At that time, I couldn’t fit the five letters of TOKYO into the frame, so I came up with TYO – the city code for Tokyo. Cities around the world each have a city code that is represented by three letters, such as LAX for Los Angeles and NYC for New York. TYO for Tokyo. The outer frame is made up of a 45-degree angle and a perfect circle, so the elements you put inside should only use a perfect circle and a 45-degree angle. I rearranged the shape of TYO, changed its position, and finally made some adjustments to decide where to cut out the TYO letters.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u2015How did you decide on the colors you used?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>At first I thought it would be fine to use just one color as the shape is beautiful. But I wanted to have “red”<\/strong><\/span> which is the color of the Japanese flag of the rising sun. So, I used red for the letter “O”. And not only in track and field, but in other sports as well, athletes strive to win “gold”<\/strong><\/span>. This friendly rivalry is the great value of sports, so I used it to mean that everyone who works hard deserves gold.
\nThe other color “black”<\/strong> represents diversity and harmony. Each participating country has its own color. There are many different colors such as national flag colors, skin and hair colors, but which color represents everyone in the world? When asked this question, we don\u2019t know…. But when you mix all the various colors it becomes black in the end. That’s why I think black is appropriate to represent diversity and the harmony in which people around the world connect and intermingle.
\nRed and gold are also the colors of festivals felt by Japanese people. The logo\u2019s three-color palette represents a festive feeling and traditional Japanese sense of beauty.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2015How did you feel when the design was completed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>It has a Japanese image like a folding fan, and I think the connection of the stripes, which represent the lanes of a track and field track, is a way to express the connection between athletes from around the world and Tokyo, and the idea that people from all over the world gather in Tokyo. <\/strong><\/span>I am very satisfied with the design, which has a Japanese feel to it.<\/p>\n

\"The
The logo was designed under the theme of “The World \u2013 Tokyo \u2013 Connecting”.
\nDesign which represents the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2015The logo is a simple and cool design which evokes a sense of Japanese feeling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>I think it gives a simple impression because it doesn’t have too many elements, and the outer frame and interior design and structure match well. In fact, I often receive such impressions. I was happy to hear the words from women\u2019s javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi “It feels both new and traditional” <\/strong><\/span>who appeared on stage together at the logo announcement event.<\/p>\n

\"The
Women\u2019s javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguch and Men\u2019s long jumper Yuki Hashioka appeared on stage at the logo announcement event.
\n“Wonderful logo which represents Japan and track and field”.
\n\u00a9WCH Tokyo 25<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2015You mentioned that you would not be able to attend the screening panel, but were you able to ask the reason why your work was selected this time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nakagawa\u3000<\/strong>Yes, I was able to ask the reason. While some people said that it would be nice to have something colorful, showy, or event-like, one athlete said “For runners, all the time up to that point is condensed at the moment of the start.<\/strong><\/span> And that moment is so quiet that even with 50,000 spectators, you could hear the heartbeat of the runner next to you. I like the quiet and tense moment of the start the most and the moment it starts the cheers went up, and after a moment of silence, it was filled with tremendous cheers. The 100m race can be won in just over 9 seconds, and the contrast is nice”. Also, as a professional designer said, “the logo design will be used for three-dimensional objects including medals”, it seems that there was a discussion that it was not necessary to seek just glamor. <\/strong><\/span>In that sense, the logo I created had a sense of tension and quiet beauty. <\/strong><\/span>In the end, it seems that the logo was won with a unanimous vote. After hearing this, I felt that the logo design selection committee members had properly discussed “what would be appropriate for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25”. I was very happy that I was chosen as a result.<\/p>\n