Create the graphic design for the Candidature File to be delivered to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), one of the most important documents in Rio’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.Based on a manual containing 300 questions on 17 themes, we had to design a layout for bilingual responses, with a pre-determined number of pages on each theme, supplemented with tables, maps and charts adding up to precisely 538 A4-sized pages divided into 3 volumes.The Candidature File’s design needed to contribute to Rio 2016’s technical excellence and its vision of transformation, celebration and solidity.

We knew we had to highlight information and prioritise legibility with a low-key design in order to avoid making it tiring to read so many pages. The final design was planned down to the smallest of details, since there were many restrictions to follow. The decision to divide the work using different colours, the text selected for the maps and the choice of images to surprise and emphasise unique features of the Brazilian landscape all helped soften the weight of the technical data, allowing Rio’s innovative plans for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to jump out of the pages.

Rio de Janeiro was given the honour of hosting the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The design of all of the materials contributed strongly to the organisation of information, making it easy to find. The colourful set of documents, rigorously organised and standardised, together with easy-to-handle packaging, was an invitation to discover Rio’s plans. We met our challenge and delivered on our commitment to the client.