Raffaela Panie: Designing the brand and visual identity for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games

Jan 21, 2026

Raffaela Panie, the Brand, Identity, and Look Director for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, shares insights into the colossal design challenge of creating a unified visual identity for the games. She discusses how to honor Olympic heritage while incorporating Italian culture, focusing on themes of beauty and contemporary spirit. Raffaela reveals the unique elements, from medals to mascots, and the importance of a modular design system that adapts to various platforms. This creative endeavor requires collaboration with a diverse team and extensive research to resonate globally.

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INSIGHT

Designing A Brand For A Short Lifecycle

The Milano Cortina brand work must be compact and fast because the games' lifecycle is short compared to a company's lifespan.
Raffaela Panie says a strong, consistent brand personality served as the guiding north star for every decision.

ADVICE

Build The System Step By Step

Build the system step by step so each phase consolidates before moving on.
Use a clear brand personality as a decision filter to keep consistency across many assets.

ANECDOTE

From Child Drawing To Mascot Costume

The project spans wildly different outputs: medals, torches, mascots, posters, and venue graphics.
Raffaela describes transforming a child's drawing into a full mascot costume and cartoon.

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Every four years, the Olympic Games capture the world’s attention—not just through athletic achievement, but through a complete visual identity that must resonate across cultures, languages, and generations. It’s one of the most demanding design challenges in the world: creating a brand that honors Olympic heritage while reflecting the unique spirit of a host city and region.

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Raffaela Panie is the Brand, Identity and Look Director for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games—which means she’s responsible for how billions of people will experience these games visually, from the opening ceremony to the medals, from venue designs to digital platforms. It’s a project that requires balancing tradition with innovation, local culture with global recognition, and multiple stakeholders with a singular creative vision.

In our conversation, Raffaela shares what it takes to design for one of the world’s most recognizable brands, how she’s weaving Italian design heritage into the visual language of the games, and the unique challenges of creating an identity that needs to work everywhere from mountain venues in Cortina to urban spaces in Milano—all while serving athletes, spectators, broadcasters, and digital audiences simultaneously.

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