LA28 Unveils Official ‘Look,’ Taking Cues from Wildflowers—But Not AI

In Southern California, roughly every 10 to 15 years, an ideal combination of sunlight, temperature, and rainfall coaxes millions of desert wildflowers to life in what’s called a superbloom. Those who want to take in the full spectacle will have to trudge out to the Mojave.

But the 12 to 15 million attendees expected at the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will be able to see the superbloom everywhere, from signage to uniforms to tickets.

Well, metaphorically, at least.

At a press event held Monday (March 23), Olympic organizing committee LA28 unveiled the official “look” of the Games—one inspired by the SoCal superbloom underway right now.

Separate from the games’ mascot and logo, the official look—dubbed “LA in Full Bloom”—is an intricate band of colors derived from the bird of paradise (LA’s official city flower) and symbolically interpreted in a 12-row linear grid meant to symbolize “the multi-layered expanse of LA.”

The grid flows through 13 abstract vignettes (called “blooms”), each meant to embody “something essential to the LA experience,” including the Hollywood sign and tail lights on freeways.

The organizing committee plans to segment the kaleidoscopic band for use around the city. It will also be available for adoption by brands that have already dropped more than $2 billion on sponsorship and licensing deals.

LA28’s head of brand design, Jeff Englehart, conceded that sponsors haven’t been able to modify their visual branding to harmonize with LA in Full Bloom—at least, not yet.

“Most commercial partners don’t have the lead time to really adopt the look of the games,” he said. But he added that LA28 is currently in talks with brands and, come time for the Games, “we are striving for 100% adoption.”

It’s hard to argue with the aesthetic merits of colors like poppy orange and sagebrush green—but is an attendee dashing to make the trampoline gymnastics competition really likely to discern all those layers of symbolism in a color band? Probably not, but Englehart thinks that’s alright.

“We were intentional about keeping the designs abstract,” he told reporters. The varicolored ribbon “was meant to allow folks to pull from their own inspiration, from their own life experiences, so they can engage and experience the games in a unique and intimate way.”

That abstract quality may also prompt some to wonder if LA in Full Bloom wasn’t also artificial intelligence in full bloom, too. For the record, it wasn’t.

“We made a conscious decision early on that we would not use AI in this process,” said VP of brand design Rick Edwards. “The stories that we’re trying to transmit in this look were extremely personal to us, personal to our city, and we’re uncomfortable without having a direct hand and telling those stories.”