The Nike logo and its history
In 1964, Phil Knight founded his sports company called ‘Blue Ribbons Sports,’ but it was not until 1971, with the intention of competing with Adidas, that it was renamed Nike, inspired by the Greek goddess of victory, «Niké«. It was then that he decided to create the Nike logo.
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The creation of the Nike logo was urgently commissioned to Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student. Knight intended it to convey movement and be as simple as that of his competitor. Hence the design of the “Swoosh.”
Davidson continued to work for Blue Ribbon Sports until the design demands of the growing company exceeded her individual capacity. In 1976, the company hired its first external advertising agency, John Brown and Partners, and Davidson started working on the needs of other clients.
He wasn’t too thrilled with the result presented by Davidson, but he accepted it. ‘I’m not in love with the logo, but I’ll get used to it,’ he said at the time.
It doesn’t seem like it went too bad for him, despite only costing him $35, which if adjusted for inflation in 2023, is equivalent to about $250.