Handball, 1972, by Otl Aicher

This 1972 Munich Olympics poster captures the intensity of handball through a bold, high-contrast screenprint technique. Three players are locked in dynamic motion: one mid-jump with a ball poised for release, while two defenders leap to block. Rendered in saturated orange, turquoise, green and purple, the stylised forms are flattened and abstracted, their physicality heightened by the grainy halftone texture. The background is a vibrant orange field with flecks of violet and grey.

Handball made its return to the Olympic Games in 1972 after a 36-year absence, and for the first time the indoor format was used. Hosted in the newly built Olympiahalle, the tournament reflected West Germany’s aim to promote contemporary sport infrastructure and organisation. The Munich Games themselves were conceived as the “Games of Peace and Joy,” intended to contrast starkly with the militarism of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Every poster in the series represented a different sport with strong visual unity, forming part of a broader campaign to signal progress, openness, and optimism in Cold War Europe.

Otl Aicher (1922–1991) was the lead designer of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. A key figure in postwar German graphic design, Aicher was co-founder of the influential Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm, which championed rational design rooted in function. For Munich 1972, he created a cohesive identity encompassing signage, typography, pictograms and colour systems.