The power and culture of sport as interpreted by a unique group of talent in Nike's Journey To Greatness

Date
9 July 2012

In the build up to a Summer of sport like no other, Nike has brought together a crop of super-talented University of the Arts London grads lead by artist and mentor, Dave White. Together with some of the world’s leading athletes, this singular group of exciting talent have visually interpreted the passion and emotion of sport in a unique design brief, Journey To Greatness.

Through a series of workshops – and amazing access to sports stars like marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, hurdler Dai Greene, sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and American hotshot Allyson Felix – the grads from London College of Fashion (LCF), Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon (CCW), Central St Martins (CSM) and the London College of Communication (LCC) took part in their own journey, using ideas and inspirations from the athletes to create four unique T-shirt designs.

Their ideas were honed by their mentors, artist Dave White and LCC dean of design Lawrence Zeegen, who helped the four teams transform the insights into the highs and lows of the life of elite sportsmen and women – the pain, the sacrifice, the glory – into their final pieces which were unveiled last week.

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Journey To Greatness: The groups with Harry Aikines-Aryeetey

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Journey To Greatness: Lawrence Zeegen and Dave White

The groups even got to join Paula Radcliffe and Dai Greene on a run through the streets of London as they grappled with the almost-impossible challenge – how to sum up all this emotion, training, focus and determination into a single visual.

Lawrence said: “It was a privilege for UAL to play a part in such an inspirational project where Nike gave our graduates a platform to showcase their design potential, and which shone a spotlight on the profound experiences and emotions that drive top athletes to reach the pinnacle of their sport.”

It’s Nice That will be showcasing all four journeys to greatness over the coming days, explaining how and why they came into being. – An insight into their initial inspirations from leading Nike athletes and how they channeled these emotions into their creative process and final executions.

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Journey To Greatness: Practical workshop in progress

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Journey To Greatness: Practical workshop in progress

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Journey To Greatness: Dave White

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Journey To Greatness: Practical workshop in progress

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Journey To Greatness: Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (left) and some working ideas from one of the groups

All project photography by Ryan Hopkinson and project films by Andrew Telling. This article was produced in conjunction with Nike.

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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