GRAPHIC DESIGN
There is almost no person in the world that wouldn’t recognize the Nike logo (swoosh).
The Nike symbol is among the most popular and recognizable ones in the design world, but the Nike logo history is actually a very simple one.It was not a famous advertising company that asked for millions to reaffirm the company’s brand, but freelance designer Carolyn Davidson who charged a total invoice of $35, and never even thought she’d done such a masterpiece.
Ever since 1971, the Nike logo (swoosh) is backing up the brand’s quality, and teaching designers that the real secret of elegance lies in simplicity.

HOW DID THE NIKE LOGO APPEAR?
As i mentioned before, the creation of this masterpiece cost only $35.The brain of the operation was Carolyn Davidson; an ambitious Portland State University student hired by an accounting professor Phil Knight, later to become one of the co-founders of the Nike Company.Back in the days, Knight was running a business of his own, known as Blue Ribbon Sports. The company wasn’t even producing sports equipment but imported such from Japan (primarily Onitsuka Tiger shoes).

Davidson didn’t even apply for the job but was overheard by Knight discussing how she couldn’t afford the oil painting class she wanted to attend. Aware of her potential, Knight approached her and offered the graphic assignments at a rate of only $14 per day. Davidson accepted and continued working on a variety of Blue Ribbon Sports projects. Once Knight decided to produce his own shoe line instead of importing Japanese products, the logo idea was born and assigned to Davidson.
It took her about three weeks to come up with the final design, and approximately 17.5 hours to perfect it. The idea was to draw an original shoe and then put it on a tissue to see how it looks. According to what she shared, the challenge consisted in the fact it had to be a logo that can fit the shoe, and look good on it at the same time.
Right before the deadline was over, Knight gathered five or six ideas and presented them to Bob Woodell and Jeff Johnson (who thought of the new name for the business). Knight also gave a look at her work but wasn’t extremely satisfied.

First, he considered the swoosh, and sad it could be an interesting choice, even if he was not completely blown off his shoes. The same as every designer, Davidson was disappointed by his reaction. His exact words were ‘it will grow on me’.
Trying even harder, Davidson brought the swoosh to perfection, but Knight was still refusing it. Eventually, she submitted the invoice for payment and gave up.
The reason why we find this story inspiring is that it tells us the world’s famous logo was not exactly ‘ripped off’ from the beginning. Not even Davidson was too excited by it, and she described it is ‘a fair piece for the money she was paid’. She didn’t foresee the popularity of the logo, or how it would affect her future career. She was simply happy she got the money for her oil painting class.Still, that’s not where the story ends. Upon graduation in 1975, Davidson quit her Nike job completely and continued her freelance career. Unexpectedly, more and more clients were approaching her impressed by her previous work, which is why she believes Nike had a lot to do with her success.
She benefited even more in 1983, when she was honored by Knight for being one of the masterminds of Nike in the dawn of its development, and organized a lunch for her which was, in fact, a surprise party. Once she arrived, she was given a special golden ring with a swoosh diamond on it and made her the owner of 500 company shares.
What did 500 Nike shares mean at the time? We’d say approximately $18,000 at the current dollar rate. It may not sound that much, but it was a reasonable gift for someone that did such a small job to make it happen.
The best part about it is that the shares were never cashed up, and following the stock splits that happened since the total number she owns today is 8000 shares. Considering today’s price per share ($60), that makes half a million.
Quite a catch for 17 hours of part-time work and a curvy checkmark, don’t you think so?

THE MEANING OF SWOOSH

Generally, Swoosh stands for speed and motion. The idea behind it is to depict movement or to replicate the sound Michael Jordan makes when he zips past the opponent and makes a spectacular dunk. The name, on the other hand, has to do with Greek mythology, where Nike was used for a winged Victory Goddess. The associations are thereof similar to victory, fight, and speed, as the Goddess we mentioned, was also a flying one.
Flying is an attribute we nowadays prescribe to Michael Jordan, the celebrity player signing two of Nike’s greatest products (Air Jordan’s and Jordan Flight), the same as the famous Wings Poster.
Stull, victory, and speed are not the only connotations that can be prescribed to the Nike logo. It has been transformed many times during the last decades, and it underwent million-dollar upgrades in order to make its connotation more visible.

The way it is today, it stands for transcendence among sports, urban hip-hop, basketball heroism, and much more.
If you’re interested in branding,I recommend you to read Naomi Klein’s book called No Logo, where she speaks of the Nike brand’s philosophy, and the influence the logo had on the success of this company. The book is generally a marketing & branding one, and tackles strategies such as outsourcing design to foreign and affordable contractors.
According to the author, Nike didn’t impose a type of shoes, but a lifestyle, and that means its value will never become any lower. At the same time, she researched other companies and marketing strategies too in order to reaffirm her point.

THERE IS MORE TO THE NIKE LOGO THAN THE CHECKMARK
Let me share another interesting story of an art professor. This professor liked to pick pupils’ brains about their favorite logos and to associate those to their emotions. Nike was rarely out of the discussion, as here was at least one kid wearing Nikes in the room.

Asked what this logo represented, most children said ‘checkmark’. However, thinking of a proper checkmark would probably show you Nike’s swoosh is nothing like it, as the regular checkmark’s lines unite in a sharp angle (take Verizon as an example), while this one is curved. Therefore, Nike’s logo is not a checkmark.

THE DESIGN ELEMENTS APPLIED TO CREATE THE NIKE SWOOSH
The popular Oregon’s shoes and sports clothing company has a lot to thank its logo for. It is one of its most powerful assets nowadays, and a symbol of its leading corporate identity that reaffirms its giant share in today’s sports industry.

THE NAME
As mentioned before, the name of the logo was inspired by the Greek victory Goddess Swoosh. It is well-known that her wings bring strength and motivation to warriors, which is why the originally named Nike strip was altered into Swoosh.

**THE COLOR **
The most typical color is a dull orange one, being at the same time the brand identity shade of the company. The revolutionary approach of Nike’s designers throughout the years transformed it many times and used many other colors including strong black.

THE LOGO
Nike is most of the time written with a simple and bold font, in order to make its name sound more glorious and powerful.
More often than rare, the name is accompanied by an even more powerful slogan (Just Do It), which Advertising Age selected to be the top ad slogan of the entire 20th century. Using an elegant font for a brilliant slogan was an excellent idea to keep Nike on top of the sports fashion world.