The history of the Nike Swoosh logo begins at the University of Oregon, back in the 1950s. A student named Phil Knight joined the track and field team led by a certain Bill Bowerman, who was eager to find an innovation that could provide a competitive advantage to his athletes. Bowerman used to propose suggestions and modifications to the shoe manufacturers, but they completely ignored him.
Meanwhile, his disciple Phil Knight, ended up graduating and would later complete a master's degree in finance and accounting. At the time, the U.S. athletic footwear market was dominated by German firms such as Adidas. This prompted Knight to contact sneaker companies in Japan to challenge them. Onitsuka Tiger, the forerunner of Asics, accepted his proposal, and Knight became a distributor of its shoes in the U.S. market.
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From that moment on, Knight began to receive pairs of shoes from Japan and decided to send his trainer and friend Bowerman some Onitsuka Tiger shoes to close a sale. But to Phil's surprise, Bowerman asks him to become his partner, and the two of them close a deal to become the official distributor of the Onitsuka Tiger brand in the U.S. under the trade name Blue Ribbon Sports.
It was 1965 when Jeff Johnson, a man with a passion for athletics and a friend of Kinght's, joined the newly created company, as the two partners were unable to manage a growing business that demanded more and more of their time.
In the early 1970s, relations between Onitsuka Tiger and Blue Ribbon Sports broke down. And on May 30, 1971, Blue Ribbon Sports was officially renamed Nike. Knight and Bowerman went from distributors to manufacturers of their own brand of sneakers, thanks in large part to the work done years earlier by Johnson.
Nike and the Swoosh logo
Both the name of the brand and its logo come from the mythology of ancient Greece. Nike is the name of the winged goddess of victory and the brand's famous Swoosh logo is an iconic representation of the wing of the goddess Nike.
Although today the Nike logo is one of the most praised and well-known designs in the world, its choice was not without controversy in the spring of 1971. The small board of directors of the new company called a contest, to which 35 graphic designers applied, to create an image that would reflect movement. In the end, despite Knight's initial reluctance, saying, "I'm not in love with the logo, but I'll get used to it," student Carolyn Davidson was chosen with her mythological wing of the Greek goddess.
Her famous design was remunerated at the time at $35. However, Knight was nice enough to present Davidson with an unknown but significant amount of company stock, along with a gold and diamond ring engraved with her logo in 1982.
Just do it
Over the years, the original Nike logo, which was designed by Davidson, has undergone several modifications that have affected the typography and the position of the firm's name itself within the logo. With the arrival of a new era such as the 21st century, the prestigious and popular American sports brand has directly opted to remove the word Nike and leave only the Swoosh icon.
The famous advertising slogan 'Just do it', which has been around for a whopping 27 years and has become a motto in the world of sports, deserves a special mention. Just three words, but with a huge background. No matter the moment, no matter the difficulty, no matter the result: Just do it. A motivational message, forceful and direct, that can be applied to any area of life.
Photos and logos: Nike USA
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