The Judging Panel appointed by the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to select the Rio Paralympic Games emblem reached a decision today (Tuesday, June 21). The 12 members unanimously voiced their preference amongst the design proposals presented by Brazilian agency Tatil Design de Ideias.

Similarly to the procedure adopted for the Rio 2016 Olympic emblem selection process, the Paralympic Games logo will now be sent to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for approval and, later on, for an extensive worldwide search to check the existence of other emblems with which there could be any form of conflict. An alternative emblem, to be approved by the Judging Panel, will also be sent to the IPC and will undergo the same search.

For five years after its unveiling, the Paralympic Games emblem will gain national and international exposure, translating into product lines and as the event’s visual representation, showing on television images broadcast to billions of viewers across the world during and after the Games.

“In view of the growth of Paralympic sport in Brazil, the IPC hopes the Rio 2016 Games will make a significant contribution to the Paralympic Movement. I am confident that with the choice we have made today, a big step has been taken in this direction,” said Carolin Baird, International Paralympic Committee’s Brand & Creative Services manager.

Recognising the breadth of the process that selected Tatil among 139 Brazilian companies to create the Rio 2016 Games logo, the IPC decided to assign the same agency to develop the Rio Paralympic Games emblem. Tatil has been given a 100,000-Brazilian-reais-contract to design the logo, develop related manuals and the launch event itself.

The Commission was formed by 12 members selected on the basis of their expertise in brand development and approval or in Olympic and Paralympic Games. Design proposals were assessed according to the following criteria: concept, originality, creativity and applicability.

“The design team and the Judging Panel were driven by their will to develop an emblem capable of contributing to boost a movement that is crucial for a more inclusive and equalitarian world. We are really happy with the result and confident our audiences will be too,” said Rio 2016 Organising Committee president, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

The creative process

The process of developing the Rio 2016 Paralympic emblem started even before the selection of Tatil. In November 2010, IPC promoted a branding workshop for the Organising Committee, sharing its expectations and other information on Paralympic Movement. Once the design agency was chosen, in late April, the Organising Committee launched a careful internal creative process including a series of meetings and briefings attended by Tatil, Paralympic athletes, the three levels of government, the IPC and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB, in the Brazilian acronym).