Each Olympic, Paralympic event gets own pictogram for first time

One of the main aspects of the visual identity of the 2016 Olympic Games will be its pictograms.

The pictograms help to immediately identify each sport on the Olympic agenda, through a small image which expresses the culture and personality of the host country. Brazil has created 64 pictograms, 41 for the Olympics and 23 for the Paralympics.

According to the Rio 2016 organizing committee on its website, each Paralympic sport has its own specific pictogram for the first time. Until now, the same pictograms had been used for events that are in both the Olympics and Paralympics.

The Rio 2016 designers based themselves on the official typeface for the games, before building the bodies of the athletes from its characters. The pictograms contain continuous lines and broad bodies, in order to give an impression of depth. The figures are rounded, however, to provide a unique frame and shape to each sport, the committee said.

The design also ensures that the pictograms remain visually striking and clear at any size and when printed in any color.

In the case of the Paralympic symbols, designers took great care to incorporate the different sports and the disabilities of the athletes in a balanced way, giving visibility to prosthetics, wheelchairs and other elements.

Officially launched in November 2013, the pictograms serve "as part of a platform of communication for the promotion of sports and associated activities," said a statement by the organizers at the time.

The pictograms are present in every aspect of the Games' visual identity, from the interior design, the signage, the entrances and officially branded products, among others.

Designed in various colors, the tickets for the Games will bear the pictograms for each discipline, while each Olympic and Paralympic event will also enjoy its own design at the entrance to the venues. Endit