Want a cool pair of kicks and also rep your hometown at the same time? Well if you live in London, Milan or Paris then now’s your chance. Nike introduced their Nike Air Max “Home Turf” Collection that celebrates three of Europe’s biggest cities. Ilovedust was asked to create a detailed illustration for each city which are now on display at NikeTown’s and other footwear retailers in each city.
“Fast can’t be contained. It can’t be stopped. Fast will leave the stadium. Fast will become life.”
These are the opening lines for Nike’s Fast is Faster campaign that’s draws on the company’s commitment to speed and pushing performance to the limit. Fast is Faster originally launched in conjunction with the NFL Draft earlier this year, and now Nike’s giving new life to the campaign with a line of clothes and with bringing on Zach Gold to shoot the collection.
HAZE collaborates with Nike on an installation inspired by the 2012 London Olympics. The 8-foot by 16-foot installation at the sportswear brand’s Soho flagship features HAZE’s signature star and arrows patterns arranged in an American flag theme. Integrated components include historical symbols from basketball, track and field. The installation can also be broken down into 2-foot by 2-foot individual icons both with and without the letters USA. The original artwork was intended for use in global retail installations throughout the summer, with the actual painting configured specifically for the Soho flagship. HAZE also painted a mural on the store’s main south wall in free flowing india ink.
In May, Ruud Baan flew to China to shoot Nike China‘s latest retail and press campaign featuring an array of Olympic athletes including Zhang Xi and Xue Chen (beach volleyball) and Yi Jian Lian and Zhu Fang Yu (basketball). During the four day shoot, Ruud captured the athletes in action doing their signature moves. Currently the press kit photos are out and the final retail shots (with more sport categories) will be released in Nike China stores nationwide and Taiwan starting August 27th.
March Madness is in full swing and Ilovedust is getting in on the action with Nike/RGA and their #RiseAsOne campaign. Ilovedust is creating original illustrations for the winning teams and their most fanatic fans on Twitter during the month-long college basketball tournament. The design studio enhances the team’s mascots with intensity and action. For the first half of the tournament, Ilovedust joined Nike in Mission Control in Portland, Oregon, following the action on Twitter and putting together the illustrations at rapid speed. The design team is spending the second half of the tournament with Nike in New York.
Adam Hayes and Andrew Bannecker collaborate with Nike on their new VCXC space in The Bronx, New York. Located across from the Van Cortlandt Park Cross Country Track, the space is devoted to runners and features custom tees, interactive displays, and running gear. VCXC honors the park’s cross-country heritage and promises to be a community gathering space for local runners. Nike opened similar sports-specific stores in Chicago and California.
Henry Obasi creates twelve original illustrations of athletes for Nike’s worldwide campaign. The illustrations are part of Nike’s Fall/Holiday visuals and feature on catalog covers, showroom graphics, and event materials worldwide. The twelve athletes cover disciplines from soccer, track and field, tennis, and basketball. All illustrations were executed in grey scale.
Last week Nike launched its Athletics West microsite to honor the original Athletics West Running Club. Founded in the 1970s, it comprised of a dozen runners that trained in Eugene, Oregon under the sponsorship of Blue Ribbon Sports, known simply today as Nike. With their unorthodox methods, the Athletics West would establish the groundwork for track and field performance in America.
Nathan Fox worked with agency Opolis, creating the illustrations for the Athletics West microsite. The illustrations were then animated for the website and the teaser trailer. Fox’s images capture the intensity and passion of the athletes. The full story of the Athletics West can be found here.
Running takes on another dimension with the Nike+ GPS App for iPhones. The Nike+ App allows people to track and record all of their runs, from metrics such as distance and time to which leg of the run was the fastest. Users can also log online to set up running challenges with friends and compare each person’s progress. At the completion of each challenge, listen to a recording of encouragement from Nike athletes and celebrities.
Nike celebrates the unveiling of their new iPhone app with a new campaign by ilovedust. The graphics by ilovedust are displayed in Nike stores internationally. Sarah Worthington of ilovedust says, “ilovedust has been working on the Nike+ GPS iPhone App campaign for some time and are very excited it’s finally happened. The artwork was to support the launch of the new Nike+ iPhone app campaign. A lot of ideas, a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it! A proud moment for ilovedust as this has now been rolled out across Niketowns worldwide!”
The FIFA World Cup kicks off in less than a week. The 3D Agency, formerly known as Candylab, adds to the World Cup excitement by creating heroic sculptures of the 12 most popular football stars for Nike’s “Write the Future” campaign. Anatomically correct models were built in CG and then transformed into life-sized sculptures that are displayed prominently in Nike Town stores around the world. The CG football players are also featured in Nike print advertising campaigns.
Director/Producer John Moffett explains, “It was a real challenge to get all the players created within the time frame as well as making sure that they were ready to be shipped out as assets to agency’s world wide. Seeing them as real life sculpts in the Nike Town Oxford circus has given everyone involved a real sense of achievement.” View more
Am I Collective animated and directed a 30 second viral video for the Nike Sportswear Six Collection. Of the six countries in the “Bleed Your Colors” campaign, artists Am I Collective and Kronk represent the spirit of South Africa, the host nation of the 2010 World Cup. The Kronk x Nike sportswear collection launched in early May in stores stateside.
The video was filmed in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Am I Collective artist Chris Hewitt created the mascot that runs through the cities like a virus infecting the urban environment. The mascot changes colors throughout this journey, each color reflecting the mascot’s personality. Says Mark van Nierkerk of Am I Collective, “Black represents the darker competitive side of sport, yellow – speed and endurance and green – growth and development.”
Todd Selby’s website is a collection of “interesting people and their creative spaces.” For a revealing look at his subjects, Selby photographs people in an environment that they’ve created for themselves. Whether it is an apartment, office, or a place in the woods, Selby uses a person’s books, artwork, personal collections, pets, and other surroundings to describe and reflect the subject’s true self.
When Nike tapped Selby to photograph the campaign for the Nike 6.0 Fall/Winter apparel line, Selby naturally followed the campaign stars to their hometowns. The campaign headliners are Ben Horan (pictured), Garrett Reynolds, Nigel Sylvester, Michael Bourez, Mason Aguirre, and James Stewart. Selby’s work will appear in print ads as well as a Nike micro-site.
Any city can set your imagination on fire. For the “I Am One” campaign, Nike chose London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, and Amsterdam as its five inspiring cities to showcase the re-release of its new sneaker, the Air Maxim (originally the Air Max 1).
For the print campaign, Nick & Chloe shot legendary athletes such as Gael Monfils (no. 1 men’s tennis player in France), Maxime Médard (French rugby union fullback), and Patrice Evra (French International footballer for Manchester United and the French national team).
Only the most serious players wear Nike Pro Combat – athletic wear featuring lightweight hexagonal foam padding woven intricately into Dri-Fit short and shirts. For Nike’s Pro Combat print campaign, Seventh Art Group digitally mapped a matching hexagon pattern in 3d onto the bodies of famous football players such as Adrian Peterson, Steve Jackson, Justin Tuck and Brian Urlacher. The print ads appear in billboards nationally.
