It's widely known that the shape of Sugarloaf mountain is referenced in the emblem. What wasn't known – until now – is that all the curves and spaces represent local landmarks, from the surrounding mountains to the islands. Hold the logo up on the beach and you can apply it to every part of the surrounding natural environment.

"We wanted to give a sculpture city a sculpture logo," Gelli told us after his talk. "We put all the curves that nobody knows. I've never talked about this – only Sugarloaf because the logo uses that for its main shape – but all the curves [represent the landscape]. We tried to bring the shape of all the big mountains that we have because it was really important that the people of Rio could feel represented in the logo."


At certain angles, the dancing people almost assume letterforms. "Many people started to see the word 'Rio' in the logo," said Gelli. "The major of Rio said to us: 'Oh, great! You put Rio in the symbol. We said, er…" he laughed. “That's something we never imagined."

"But unconsciously we did put those things there. Before we started to design things – to find the best colour, textures, shapes, things like that – we tried to identify the soul. In this process, when you're trying to find the unique perspective that the creative challenge has, you put the seed on the floor to grow," he explained. "The materialisation is just a consequence of this whole process."


The Paralympics logo mixes two archetypal symbols: the heart and the infinity symbol. "It's not an obvious heart," says Gelli. "But it was important to find symbols that are perceived as positive in all cultures.

"We used 3D because we wanted to create a tactile experience. You have a lot of blind people. We wanted to open a new experience for them."

One interpretation Gelli heard involved an outcome he hadn't planned. "One day a man in the slum told me that the three forces are the people, the company and the politicians – they're together in a big hug to change the city and to change the country," he explained.

"I think that happened, in a certain way," he adds. "You can see in Rio today a huge challenge, a huge change, in the city – and it was part of this big hug that happened."

Running from 17 to 19 February, the annual Design Indaba Conference in Cape Town features the best of global creativity on one stage.

Source link: creativebloq.com