The design process for the Rio 2016™ Paralympic Games emblem began one year ago, in November 2010, when the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) organised a workshop on brands for the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to share its expectations and relevant information about the Paralympic Movement.

In late April 2011, the IPC chose Brazilian design agency Tatil Design de Ideias to develop the Rio 2016™ Paralympic Games emblem. The agency had previously been selected to develop the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games emblem following a 5-month process involving 139 Brazilian firms.

The International Paralympic Committee decision was yet another testimony to the breath of the process. The IPC understood that by selecting Tatil, which was already immersed in the Rio Games values, the necessary consistency between the visual identity and the essence of the emblems of the Olympic and Paralympic events would be ensured.

Once the design agency had been selected, Rio 2016™ launched a careful emblem development process including several meetings and briefings with Tatil, Paralympic athletes, the three levels of government (federal, state and city), the IPC and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB, the acronym in Portuguese).

“An emblem makes history when people’s eyes buy that emblem. Once we have a strong emblem, I am sure this emblem is part of history and takes the Games together with it”, says Carlos Arthur Nuzman, President of the Rio 2016™ Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee.

A Judging Panel was appointed by Rio 2016™ to choose the Paralympic Games logo, comprising 12 members selected on the basis of their expertise in brand development and approval or in Olympic and Paralympic Games, in addition to representatives of the three levels of government (federal, state and city).

The design proposals submitted by Tatil were judged by the panel on June 21, 2011, based on the following criteria: concept, originality, creativity and applicability. The 12 members unanimously chose one among the design proposals they had been asked to analyse.

“This creative process had a particular character. We gathered everybody, we made everybody work together. There were 150 different logos until we got to a solution. If this emblem has the intention of encouraging people, it needs to be inspired by universal symbols”, says Fred Gelli, Tatil Head of Creation.

Similarly to what was done for the selection process of the Rio 2016™ Olympic Games emblem, the Paralympic Games emblem was then sent to the IPC for approval. Subsequently, a thorough global search for emblems containing elements included in the Rio 2016™ Paralympic Games emblem was conducted to make sure that no conflict would arise with any other existing emblem.

The emblem film

The Rio 2016™ Paralympic Games emblem film was produced by Conspiração Filmes, after a selection process. The film was directed by Andrucha Waddington, with Tomás Portela as co-director and Cláudio Henrique as the executive director. Cláudio Peralta, also from Conspiração, answered for the special effects and brand animation.

The Judging Panel was composed of:

Carlos Arthur Nuzman

President of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Leonardo Gryner

Chief Executive Officer of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Maggie Sanchez

Former Chief Commercial Officer of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Beth Lula

Brands General Manager of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Andrew Parsons

President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee

Carolin Baird

Brand & Creative Services Manager of the International Paralympic Committee

Ney Valle

Design Manager of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Theodora Mantzaris

Brand Strategist and Founder of the Branding consultancy Theodora Mantzaris & Company, based in Athens, Greece

Ricardo Leite

Designer and Partner-Creative Director at Crama Design Estrategico

Sarah Castro

Social Communication Advisor of the Ministry of Sports

Marcos Godinho

Special Advisor to the Rio de Janeiro State Government’s Social Communication Under secretariat

Marcela Muller

Social Communication Coordinator at the Rio de Janeiro City Government