feature : Nike Swoosh by Carolyn Davidson 1971
The Nike Swoosh is in my opinion the world’s most recognisable brand logo. It perfectly and unmistakably embodies the company’s ideology in a unique form without any need to mention the company name.
During the late 1950s Phil Knight was a successful middle-distance runner at the University of Oregon, coached by Bill Bowerman. After graduation, Knight secured the distribution rights to sell Onitsuka Tiger sports shoes from Japan. Soon after in January 1964 Knight and Bowerman set up Blue Ribbon Sports, famously selling the Japanese running shoes out of the back of Knight’s Plymouth Valiant car.
Whilst Knight looked after the business end, Bowerman took to designing his own running shoes, famously using his wife’s waffle iron to create a new type of rubber sole with more grip.
Seven years later In May 1971 BRS were ready to officially launch their own shoe, choosing to rename the company Nike.
Carolyn Davidson was a graphic design student at Portland State University, Oregon, where Knight was teaching accounting. One day in 1969 he overheard her saying she could not afford to pay for oil painting classes. Knight offered her a free-lance job at BRS preparing charts and graphics that would help generate some cash.
2 years later Knight as the launch was imminent gave Davidson the task to create a new shoe logo that conveyed motion and could rival the 3 stripes by adidas (first used in 1967).
Davidson provided several designs and Knight, forced by looming production deadlines, immediately settled on the Swoosh, said to symbolize the wing of the Greek Goddess of Victory, Nike.
At the time, he stated “I don’t love it, but it will grow on me.” (I wonder, if he loves it now ?)
Knight was billed a total of 17.5 hours work @ $ 2 / hour = $35.
Davidson continued working for Nike until 1976, when the company had grown so much that one person could not manage the design demands, so she resigned to spend more time homemaking and working freelance.
In 1983, some 12 years after the original design, Knight seemed to have a sudden pang of guilt. He invited Carolyn to a company lunch, where he presented her with a diamond ring engraved with the Swoosh and an envelope containing 500 Nike Shares, worth about $8,000 (ca. $18,000 today). 33 years on Carolyn has never sold any of the shares. They are said to be worth just short of $1 Million.
For years Davidson’s logo would always be used in conjunction with the word NIKE. In 1995 Nike took the bold step to use the Swoosh as a stand-alone corporate logo. Twenty one years later and it was clearly the right choice. The Swoosh has helped Nike become one of the most valued and most successful brands of all time. Maybe it’s also time to give Carolyn some more shares ?
images thanks to : printmag, businessinsider, naturalrunningcenter, theinspiration, runningmagazine, stocklogos and makeitrain
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