VANCOUVER - No beavers. No beer.

In designing the visual aspects of the 2010 Winter Games, organizers say the challenge was to reflect Canada and the host region for the Olympics but stay away from cliche.

The resulting effort was revealed Wednesday to muted applause at a luncheon in downtown Vancouver -- graphics of ribbons in natural colours and patterns, woven through urban and environmental icons.

"We talked about how every country has amazing cities and amazing natural environments but they are so connected here and particularly in the host region," said Ali Gardiner, the director of brand and creative services for the organizing committee.

"The fact that you can see bears and eagles and killer whales in your backyard and then be downtown in 15 minutes is really what makes Canada so unique."

The graphics will be the backdrop of the 2010 Olympics, splashed across buildings, on uniforms and in and around the venues themselves.

Twenty-five textured patterns were created for the design, according to Gardiner, incorporating images like ferns, leaves, fabric patterns and city landscapes.

The patterns shift and change between interlocking banners of colours with names like mist, winter ocean and coastal forest.

Dangling from some of the ribbons are little icons like lanterns, while umbrellas, a nod to Vancouver's rainy image, sit on top of fire hydrants.

Similar imagery will flare across Vancouver as well, with a program proposed to Vancouver city council this week that will see some 6,000 banners hung mostly in the downtown core.

Scores of official Olympic products also bearing the new look will go on sale likely early next year.

The graphics were designed by an in-house team at the organizing committee, with help from Vancouver-based aboriginal artist Xwa lack tun, who helped with the texture, and a Dutch illustrator who designed the pictograms.

Illustrator Irene Jacobs was selected after an open request for proposals.

"Irene's style was the one that integrated the best with ours," Gardiner said.

"We did look at a number of portfolios and submissions, of course, and interviewed as well and hers emerged as being the one that would work best with the concept we had in mind and the one we had already established."

The pictograms are modeled on sports photography, fashion illustration and Japanese comics known as manga.

In contrast to the pictograms for the Beijing Olympics, which were stylized stick figures, the illustrations for Vancouver are full drawings of athletes in the middle of competitions, presented in blue and white.

"They're very human-looking and we believe they are going to be a major part of a terrifically dynamic human look," said John Furlong, the head of the organizing committee.

The launch of the look the Games was made in concert with the re-launch of the 2010 Olympic website, expected Thursday.

The new site will feature videos, podcasts and a behind-the-scene look at how the graphics were designed.

Organizers also revealed further details of ticketing plans for the 2010 Games in the form of "Olympic experience packages" that bundle tickets together.

Fifty-eight different packages have been built ranging in price from $140 to $1,267.

While single-event tickets will be available, organizers say the best way for people to ensure they get tickets to events they really want is to buy a package.

Tickets for the Games go on sale on Oct. 3.