Former ACAD student puts his mark on sled designs for Team Canada
Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics will have special meaning for Josh Dornan
A former ACAD graphic design student is on Cloud 9 after his design was chosen for Team Canada's bobsled and skeleton sleds for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
He wasn't sure if they were even taking submissions, but thought it couldn't hurt to ask.
"When I heard that Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton was open to student designers, I thought I am just going to fire an email over and maybe they haven't thought of a designer yet," Josh Dornan told The Homestretch on Wednesday.
"This was much earlier in the year. They said, 'No, we haven't.'"
So Dornan volunteered.
"Digitally, you spend months and months on the design, and so to see them in the context, surrounded by the athletes and, of course, the CF-18 [military jet], it was pretty incredible," Dornan said, when his design was revealed Wednesday.
He said he had a goal for the finished design and some inspiration.
"We modelled it after the Canada 150 CF-18 design that was made by Jim Belliveau. We wanted to translate that design but adapt it and implement it in a way that represented Canadian sport. There are definitely similarities, but we injected our own identity for athletics in Canada," Dornan explained.
"It's a really deep, rich primary red that is the main body of the sled. On the side we have some orange line-styled leaves. Those are modelled after the 150 leaves on the jet."
Dornan said he wanted to pay respect to a couple of groups.
"Something we wanted to throw in for aviation fans and a nod of respect to the Air Force, I actually decided to put a false canopy underneath the bobsled. When an airplane, a fighter jet, turns over in the sky, it looks like it's actually righ-side-up. In combat situations, that's very deceiving. Attention to detail is what I was looking for."
He says the skeleton sled design is just a little different from the bobsled.
"The skeleton sled is a little bit darker, it has a gradient on it that goes from dark, dark red to a lighter red complemented by those orange leaves. Together they will help the athletes think of home when they are over in Korea."
When the designs were formally announced, it was a flurry of media attention for the former graphic design student, who attended the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary.
"It's crazy. Today was definitely a step in making this whole process a reality. In my mind it feels a little bit more real," said Dornan, who now lives in Toronto.
"When I am at home, where I love watching sports, on my couch and I watch the athletes getting ready to go down the track — that's going to be an emotional and crazy moment."
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With files from The Homestretch