| Ticket Design
The OCOG-80 laid a great stress on outward
appearance of Olympic admission tickets. An admission ticket should first
of all inform its holder briefly but clearly about the sport, venue and
time of competition, about the location of the seat on the stands. According
to the designers a ticket was to have a distinct image by its shape, colours
and graphic design thus becoming a kind of souvenir. Therefore, a somewhat
unusual size was chosen measuring 110 by 170 mm.
The front of each ticket was divided into
three horizontal parts of different width. The upper part was red and remained
the same for all the tickets bearing the official emblem of the Games of
the XXII Olympiad and the words "Moscow 1980. Games of the XXII Olympiad"
or "Tallinn 1980. Games of the XXII Olympiad" and so on.
The middle part (different according to the
day of the week) contained the name of sport in Russian, French and English,
sport pictograph, name of venue also in three languages, the date and time
of competition indicated also by a drawing of the clock face.
The lower part had a background of protective
multiple design consisting of the official emblem of the Games and their
year made in one of six colours depending on location of the venue in Moscow.
On this part were a plan of the competition site indicating stands, sections,
and rows and its right margin displayed actual
stand, section, row, and seat the holder was
entitled to and the price of the ticket. The bottom left-hand corner contained
the code number of the ticket and the bottom right-hand corner was perforated
diagonally so that it could be detached upon admission. The serial number
of spectator shift was printed on that corner. All the shifts were numbered
from 001 for the Opening Ceremony to 380 for the Closing Ceremony.
The shift numbers on the tickets made for
much easier control at the wickets when great masses of spectators were
entering a venue. The reverse side was white. It had a map of venue location
with regard to city streets and the nearest metro station. The traditional
Note for Spectators was also printed there in three languages. There was
the inscription "Moscow 80" in red at the upper right-hand corner. The
most difficult job was making tables of seats indicating the stands, sections
and rows. This job was made even more complicated by the fact that some
Olympic facilities were still under construction or were being renovated
in 1978.
In spite of that, all the tables had been
completed and handed over to printers by March 15, 1979. After that date,
any alterations in the seating at the stands included into the tables were
to be made only with approval of the Ticket Programme Department.
The tickets to the Olympic Games have material
value. Any counterfeiting even on a small scale may cause great organisational
problems. Therefore, reliable precautions should be taken against any attempts
at falsification. Several such protective measures had been taken both
during the manufacture of paper and in the course of printing.
The tickets were printed on special reinforced
paper used for banknotes. Its technical qualities and characteristic rustle
distinguish it instantly from other types of paper. Other protective elements
were distinctly outlined watermarks in the shape of the official emblem
of the Games and their year executed in several tints. The precautions
also included coloured "security threads" used in banknotes, bearing microprinted
Olympic rings alternating with the year of the Games.
A two-colour multiple design was used for
the protective background of the front side. The colours were selected
with the least photographic colour discrimination. The above precautions
proved to be sufficient to completely eliminate the temptation to counterfeit
even single tickets. The whole set of tickets (6,070,717) took one year
to complete. The tickets were delivered to the OCOG-80 in late January
1980 and sorted out by code numbers.
(Source document: Official
Report 1980, Vol. 2, page 519) |
