NIKE
THE Soul TO THE Sole - OF -
Logo If Nike were a human be-
ing, it would indeed have its own personality.
Specific geometric shapes
are said to represent per-
sonality traits. The swoosh logo fits within the parameters of an upward facing
triangle, this indicates a
male characteristic and also an element of aspiration,
activity and creativity. The swoosh or tick is divis-
able by two circles, a shape which is representative of
God. Coincidentally Nike is the name of the mythologi-
cal goddess of Victory. All these elements to the logo are backed up by the positive associations with the tick, a mark of positivity and success. So, if Nike
were human he would possibly be a male driven by success and a desire for progres-
sion in his life. He would also be competitive. These traits are all subcon-
sciously picked up on by the public when purchasing Nike
products. This logo does not just represent the soul of Nike, but Nike’s customers too.
The swoosh is easily
recognisable, even at small sizes, whether attached to
TRIANGULAR FORM
the type or not.
CIRCULAR ELEMENTS POSITIVE SYMBOLISM ATTRACTIVE ANGLE
An example of a logo with
a great impact. Its strength is in its bold nature. Even when distorted to a high level the swoosh is eas-
ily recognisable. The type is no longer in a state to
read, but the swoosh is what the public have come to know Nike by. The swoosh is nearly always the main feature on a Nike trainer.
TYPE
‘Just Do It.’ A slogan
introduced in 1988 epitomises Nike’s attitude towards
success. The use of the full stop adds an element of no question; you want to succeed… do it then!
FUTURA
CONDENSED
EXTRABOLD ALL CAPS ITALICISED to 20째 TRACKING -70 (Estimate - in thousandths of an em)
The strength of the Nike
logo is backed up by a use of an attention grabbing
typeface. The heavily edited Futura Condensed Extra Bold is always all caps, tracking is altered to minus 70 and an angle of 20 degrees
is used. All these modifications give the sans-serif
even more impact and suggest a rule breaking or boundary
pushing mentality behind the creative minds at Nike.
PERSONS Throughout their history
Nike have used people in
the public eye, or celebrities to promote their brand image. The first example of
this, for Nike, was back in the 1970s when one athlete
from the USA was responsible for the ‘70s Running Boom’.
Steve Roland Prefontaine was his name. He stood out from
Christiano Ronaldo was an
keep on wearing their brand,
their swoosh logo all over,
their journey into music,
obvious target to plaster
when he moved to Manchester United in 2003. Throughout
the 00s he was seen wearing what was the lightest football boot in mass produc-
whereas at the start of
the truth of the matter is, this is the only footwear
they would have been able to afford.
Unfortunately things do
tion - the Mercurial Vapor.
not always work out when a
the brand on the football
resented by a superstar in
He is under contract to wear field until 2014. He is not the only current Footballer to wear the Nike name.
brand like Nike are repany certain field. Lance
Armstrong hit the news in
Steve Roland Prefontaine Lance Armstrong
Big names include: Wayne
Rooney, Flourent Malouda, Naani, Clint Dempsey and
Jack Wilshere. Past examples include real legends of the
sport, like Edgar Davids who always stood out thanks to his unusual sports glasses
that allowed him to see the the norm as a middle to long distance runner because of
his unique appearance. Everything about this man was outstanding, not only his
ball during play as he suf-
fered from colour-blindness. Luis Figo, a former world
a big way both when he was
also wore the swoosh.
after beating cancer and
player of the year (2001) Sport is not the only
long locks and moustache,
market Nike like to be a
the 2000 metre and 10000
name is seen on the biggest
but he held records in both metre distances. Tragically ‘Pre’ as he was affectionately known died after
crashing his car on May 30th 1975. Ever since his death
annual races have been held
to remember his contribution
part of. By ensuring their stars in the world, or the mega-famous, they secure
the attention of virtually everyone in the world that has either a television or
a form of accessing the in-
to athletics and to cele-
winning the Tour de France then when feeling the wrath
of sports doping authorities after being found to have been engaging in perfor-
mance enhancing activities throughout the majority
of his sporting career. Up until the day he was found guilty Nike stayed by his side, they terminated his contract in October 2012
Jay-Z
and released the follow-
brate the market for running
ing statement “Nike does not
he was partially responsible
condone the use of illegal
for.
performance enhancing drugs
Nike was created in the
in any manner”.
USA and Football or Soccer,
is not the first, or favoured sport in that nation. But with its worldwide appeal
the world of Football would
ternet.
market to ignore. As they
stars have been associ-
Nike have targeted the indi-
ing back to the early 80s.
have been a far too big a
did with running in the 70s, viduals that stand out from the crowd. With his boyish
good looks and ways of mov-
ing a ball in the air unlike any others seen before him,
Jay-Z and other Hip-Hip
ated with sports brands goThis is due to their afford ability back when Rap music started making waves, they happened to be wearing the gear when their music and
video were being recorded,
simply because this was the norm in African American
communities in the pioneering cities of Philadelphia
and New York. In a somewhat ironic move, companies like Nike now target influential music stars like Jay-Z to
Christiano Ronaldo
Michael Jordan. Controversial but legendary.
ON TREND
The Air Max 1. Still current after 20 years.
‘82 Air Force 1
It is safe to say that
throughout the history of Nike there have been many
swoosh, but now-a-days the
have been responsible for
for the iconic image of
swoosh has been sidelined
trends in fashion, some they
Michael Jordan performing
and some they have designed
on of his world famous slam
to conform to in an effort to continue selling.
The ‘Waffle Runner’ was a
The iconic Jordan jump
creation by Nike cofounder
Bill Bowerman in 1972. This was the shoe used by the
runners in the time of the greats like Steve Prefon-
taine, who, in turn created
the craze for running in the 70s and subsequently the Waffle Runner
trend for the running shoe.
This model didn’t exactly
cause the mass hysteria Nike were after, so with some
dunk lunges. This new logo
came into use in the release of the ‘Air Jordan III’.
slight alterations, includ-
ing a change to the ‘swoosh’ the model was re-released in 1986 and ever since has made Nike around eight-hundred
million dollars a year. The
shoes was a huge success due to them being adopted by the city of Harlem as the chosen ‘Kicks’ for playing Basketball in the parks. Since
this model the ‘Air Force’ name has been attached to
of the first shoe to show the
way up till 2009 when Nike
Max’ now commonly referred
from the ‘Air Max 2’ all the Nike has always been at
the forefront of sports ‘86 Air Force 1
technology, one of the
greatest examples of this is
released the ‘Air Force 09’ in an attempt to bring the shoes up to date. However,
advert which featured the
Beatles song ‘Revolution’,
out to be a very apt choice
their best over the last 40
of song title as this shoe
years. The first model to
none of these have been as successful as the original re-release of ‘86.
During the re-design
of the ‘Air Force 1’ Nike
signed Michael Jordan in an
Air Max
advertised in a television
advertisement. This turns
many athletes perform to
Tailwind
to as the ‘Air Max 1’ was
Beatles song was used in an
technology that has helped
was the ‘Tailwind’. Origi-
‘Air’ technology. The ‘Air
this being the first time a
the introduction of ‘Air’
incorporate the technology
1987 saw the introduction
many variations of the shoe
has sold solidly through-
out the ‘90s, ‘00s and ‘10s with subcultures like Hip
Hop, Gabber and Bass Culture adopting the ‘Air Max’ as their shoe of preference.
endorsement contract where
he signs to wear a Nike shoe nally designed by a NASA
engineer named Frank Rudy.
The technology was driven by the idea of allowing people to literally run on air.
‘Air’ consisted of gas filled bags, or capsules, that
added a bounce to the step
of an individual wearing the Air Jordan 1
shoes. The ‘Air’ technology was presented to multiple
specifically designed for
him called the ‘Air Jordan’. In 1984 he joined Chicago
Bulls and quickly became a star in the NBA. It was in
this season that he acquired the nickname ‘Air Jordan’
by completing numerous slam
dunks in play and exhibition style slam dunk contests. The original model of the
such an effect on the pub-
lic, or influenced culture in troduction of the bag filled
Only Nike saw the potential
with air has been replaced
and took up the idea and
because of the advances in
subsequently the ‘Air’ name
sport science for perfor-
is now synonymous with Nike.
mance reasons. But the ‘Nike
The first massive trend to
Air’ revolution is still the
ogy was born in 1982 when
‘84 ‘Air Jordans’, that went
debut on a basketball court.
1985 incorporates the Nike
the ‘Air Force 1’ made its
shoes have outsold or had
such a massive way. The in-
companies including Adidas.
come from this new technol-
Since the release of
‘Air’ technology no Nike
on sale to the public in
first choice for many sneaker fans across the globe.
James Gwyn Goodwin Davies Graphic Design BA (Hons) Graduate 2012
Scan this QR code or find me at jggd.co.uk
All copy found within this document is sourced via my background knowledge on the subject, or has come directly from the website that represents each of the brands featured.