The Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic ad Paralympic Games launched this Monday, in London, the bespoke font, which will be used for key messages of the Games. Its creation was inspired by the letters and figures of the Rio 2016™ logo and the essence of the Games: passion and transformation, which unites the Olympic and Paralympic brands.
A total of 23 studies were created, over 8 months’ work, until all 5448 characters were perfected. The brand concepts of Rio 2016™ needed to be present in the design of every accent and the shape of every ligature.
The Branding Director of the Rio 2016™ Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee, Beth Lula, underscores that the creation of the Rio 2016 font is an important legacy of the Games: “The creation of a proprietary font will perpetuate the brands and the essence of the Games, in addition to being a very valuable addition to Brazilian design”, she says.
Get to know the font of the Rio 2016™ Olympic and Paralympic Games!
The typographic concept was designed by the Brazilian team of Dalton Maag, one of the world's largest font design companies, which worked together with their London studio during the font engineering stage. Brazilian consultant Gustavo Soares, typography expert, was hired to be the a technical interface between the Rio 2016™ Design team and Dalton Maag Brazil.
A closer look at the city of Rio de Janeiro also inspired the group. The sidewalk of Copacabana is present in the letters 'm' and 'n', and the letter 'r' resembles the Rock of Gávea. The letters are drawn with a single continuous stroke, in an agile and fluid motion, suggesting the athlete's movements. At the same time, the variety present in the curves of the letterforms evokes the landscape of Rio de Janeiro.
Fabio Haag, Creative Director at Dalton Maag, highlights the legacy aspect for the Brazilian design market: "As a Brazilian typophile, designing the Rio 2016™ font was a dream job. This is a milestone for the design scene in Brazil – it's a great example of how type designers can collaborate with graphic designers, sharing their expertise to strengthen an identity", explains.
The greatest legacy of the this project is the proof that a bespoke font is hugely important for a brand. It is capable of strengthening any design project by amplifying its concept in every written word. For the font development, the Rio 2016™ team invested in Brazilian design through a rich process of collaboration, which can be taken as a blueprint for future projects of this nature in Brazil. With the creation of the font, the personality condensed in the Rio 2016™ logo is now present throughout all visual communication of the Games.
Rio 2016
