The genesis of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games logo

It is difficult to make a more iconic subject in terms of visual identity. Which graphic designer has never dreamed of designing a visual identity for the Olympic Games? At Graphéine, we obviously have to count ourselves in the lot, for proof, we have written at least 5 articles on the subject since the beginning of the year. But until we have enough experience and/or have developed our client network between Switzerland, the IOC and Panama, we'll just talk about it, a bit like McCain fries (It's those who talk about it the most...). We are therefore going to try to tell you the underside of the visual identity of the Rio Games, and how two agencies found themselves working hand in hand.

A unique opportunity to decipher a collaboration between designers from different cultures. This is a freely inspired translation of an article originally published on the 99U blog . Day 1: Make a logo while walking on water. In the beginning, there was the verb. Without background remove service wanting to offend the believers, it was simply the brief of the consultation. Following which the first day was devoted to the design of the logotype. It is the Brazilian agency " Tátil design " which won the consultation with its logo dancing men-ribbons.

It was already a miracle, since there were 138 other contenders to try to walk on water. For two months, under the impetus of creative director Frederico Gelli, the whole agency was in turmoil. Their ambition was to represent Brazil's energy and sense of hospitality (the sense of celebration?). But the most complicated does not seem to have been the creation of this sign. The hardest part was keeping the project secret between the time God (aka the IOC) communicated their elected status to the time the logo was revealed to the public. For 4 months, 10 people were forced into secrecy, locked in a hastily built bunker in place of the old open-space. Badge and password required. To the rest of the agency, this was a top-secret project fo the CIA.