The power and culture of sport as interpreted by a unique group of talent in Nike's Journey To Greatness
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.
Journey To Greatness: The groups with Harry Aikines-Aryeetey
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.
Journey To Greatness: Practical workshop in progress
Journey To Greatness: Practical workshop in progress
Journey To Greatness: Dave White
Journey To Greatness: Practical workshop in progress
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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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.
