Kinon Has Designs on Bringing Olympics to New York
5/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
PLANTING THE OLYMPIC SEED
Former U-M rower has designs on bringing the Games to the Big Apple
By Andrea Parker, U-M Athletic Media Relations
On May 14, 2004, the gun went off to signal the start of the race to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to New York City. Former University of Michigan rower Jennifer Kinon is part of the team that is spreading the Olympic spirit throughout the candidate city, and she's doing so with the help of her graphic design and sports background.
Kinon, who rowed for the Wolverines from 1996-2000 while earning dual bachelor's degrees in graphic design and English, is the design director of NYC2012 Olympic Bid Committee and is responsible for the entire look of the Olympic Bid campaign. Anything printed with the NYC2012 logo is not sent into production without having passed before the critical eye of Kinon.
Kinon (right) helped U-M to a Big Ten title and fifth place at the 2000 NCAA Championships as a senior.
"I get to do everything, and everything funnels to me eventually," said the Brookside, New Jersey, native. "I have a bunch of interns and designers and we're making things: mailings, contributing to advertising, the website. From brochures to billboards to business cards, it all comes from us."
NYC2012 took on its identity last year when it was designated as one of five contenders to bid for the Olympics, joining London, Madrid, Moscow and Paris. Though Kinon herself did not create the Olympic Bid Committee logo -- half Statue of Liberty, half triumphant finisher -- she was selected to join the staff by a former professor who did.
"I had done a sports project on the Olympics in grad school for a motion graphics class. One of my professors remembered it, and his company was one of the companies bidding to create the logo for the Bid Committee," Kinon mentioned. "My professor designed the logo for NYC2012 and started a relationship with the Bid Committee, who then needed a design director, and my professor said that he had the perfect person for them."
Kinon had already managed the tasks of a design director when she worked as art director of Graphis, Inc., a designer's magazine, from May 2003 to May 2004. She joined Graphis straight of out the School of Visual Arts, where she earned her M.F.A. in design, and the experience and knowledge she gained at Graphis enabled her to jump into her next position at NYC2012.
Having always been an athlete and lover of sports, Kinon was thrilled to go into a job that combined her degrees with athletics. She sought out the same combination when looking at colleges.
"I saw U-M as attractive because of its strength in so many diverse areas," the enthusiastic Kinon said. "I was able to explore my options and see what worked for me. Also, U-M is great all-around for athletics."
In 1996, as a freshman, Kinon started rowing crew when it was still a club sport. When it became a varsity sport the next year, she had four full years of eligibility remaining if she chose to use them. While finishing her B.A. in English late her junior year, Kinon was encouraged by several professors to get her B.F.A. in graphic design.
"My senior year, I still had academic interests, my heart was still in the team, and I felt like I wanted to spend more time working on my sport," recalled Kinon. "I got lucky with crew becoming a varsity sport when it did because I got to finish my sports education at Michigan."
Kinon's coaches, Mark Rothstein and Emily Ford, had told her that sports mirrored life, and she quickly found out that getting up early, being on time, and working in a team was not reserved simply for crew practice. Kinon saw U-M as a great learning experience and appreciates how her coaches helped prepare her for the professional work force.
Beneath one of Kinon's creations, fencers give an exhibition in front of the New York Public Library.
"My coaches dedicated their lives to my teammates and me," remembered Kinon. "Emily and Mark are amazing coaches, and I learned a lot because they're good people. It was a great experience."
During her final year at U-M, Kinon worked as a graphic design intern in the Athletic Media Relations office. Her main project was to create the 1999-2000 season rowing media guide, and it was her outstanding work which led to her first job, a position in the marketing department of a consulting firm.
"I was thrilled with the opportunity. I earned class credit and added a great piece to my portfolio," said Kinon. "The experience I gained helped me get my first job. My manager literally told me it was the reason she hired me."
While using her sports education on a daily basis to work in teams, handle the stress of project deadlines, and communicate with people, Kinon never tires of her job, though she has been known to stay in the office much longer than an average eight-hour work day.
"The scope of the work is really fascinating and so are the people. Everyone is here because they're passionate about the Games and the city," revealed Kinon. "There are people here all day, every day. It's a full-time 24/7 job and it's by no means average."
Kinon's first project upon joining the NYC2012 team was to help create a Bid Book, which is approximately 300 pages and summarizes the plan New York has for the Games.
"From May to November of last year our focus was making this book," mentioned Kinon. "We have to have total confidence in the plan, which includes hotels, security and transportation."
The Bid Book was submitted in November of 2004, and once submitted, the plan is written in stone and taken to marketing so it can be brought to the International Olympic Committee members. In January 2005, a panel of IOC members visited New York, where they toured the city, visited potential venue sites, and sat through four days of presentations. NYC2012 will find out if it was persuasive enough when the IOC announces its final decision on July 6.
Kinon is quick to call what she does a dream job because she is combining the knowledge she has from her degrees with the athletic world.
"It's exciting for me because it doesn't get any bigger than New York City and the Games," said Kinon. "New York City is the place to be for design and the Games are the place to be for the best athletes."
Last summer Kinon was nominated to be the New York representative at the Olympic Games in Athens, which she found to be even more fun than she had imagined because she got to meet up with some old friends.
"I had some talented teammates who went on to compete, and through my job here at the Bid Committee, I was able to travel to Athens and see my teammate Kate Johnson compete while sitting with her parents in the stands. We both found our way to the Games in our own way." Johnson, a three-time All-American at U-M, won a silver medal with the USA women's eight in Athens.
From Central Park to Times Square (above), Kinon's design work is seen throughout the Big Apple.
Working for NYC2012 is especially appealing to Kinon because of its ties to rowing.
"NYC2012 helps sponsor a program called 'Row New York' and we're trying to revitalize neighborhoods and get people involved," said Kinon. "If we get the Games, we'll dredge Flushing Meadows and combine it with the other lake and make a great rowing venue. We have already created a rowing club for high school girls and it is fun to watch them grow and become involved with the sport."
One thing Kinon never tires of is seeing great athletes roaming the halls of the NYC2012 Bid Committee office. Michael Phelps, Carly Patterson and Michelle Kwan are all part of the "Circle of Olympians" program, which is comprised of more than 1,700 Olympians that provide insight into how the Games could be run in a more smooth and efficient way.
"We get to meet all the Olympians, which is very exciting. Athletes from every event come, and it doesn't matter if you have an endorsement contract or not, you still made it to the Olympics."
The main objective of the Bid Committee is to serve the athletes. NYC2012 exists to make the Olympics in New York a great experience for the athletes, like figuring out how to get boats down to the water for rowing or determining the easiest way to take the bus to the village, Kinon explained.
"It's our responsibility to imagine all possibilities for New York," remarked Kinon.
Even after imagining all of New York's Olympic potential, the Bid Committee will inevitably break up after July 6 when the host city is decided. If New York wins the bid, the committee with either break down into organizing committees, or all committee team members will turn their attention to another project. Kinon likens this date to a finish line.
"It's like being on a team again, and it is a competition," Kinon points out. "There's a deadline that paces you and makes you focus on what needs to be done, and if we don't leave it all on the field, after July 6 we could be wondering what we could have done. The finish line makes it all happen."
Note: On July 6, 2005, London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics.
