Swoosh

The Swoosh is the logo of American athletic shoe and clothing manufacturer Nike, Inc.. Today, it has become one of the most recognizable brand logos in the world, and the most profitable, having a worth of $26 billion alone. Harvard Business School professor, Stephen A. Greyser, has described the logo as "the living, vibrant symbol of the firm."

Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight founded Nike on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS). Upon changing its name to Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1971, the company adapted the Swoosh as its official logo the same year. Carolyn Davidson, a student at Portland State University, created the logo, attempting to convey motion in its design. It also symbolizes the wing of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, from which the company derived its current name.

The logo has undergone minor changes from its original design in 1971, today most commonly seen as a solo swoosh, although for much of its history, the logo incorporated the NIKE name alongside the Swoosh. Over the years, the red and white color palette has traditionally been used on the logo, although most recently a solid black swoosh has gained significant popularity.

The Swoosh has appeared alongside the trademark "Just Do It" since 1988. Together, these two make up the core of Nike's brand, and has been the face of the company, with many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world sporting the logos.

The Nike Swoosh is a corporate trademark created in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson, while she was a graphic design student at Portland State University. It was here that she met Phil Knight, who was at the time teaching accounting classes at the university. Knight had overheard that Davidson was in search of extra funds in order for her to take oil painting classes, so he offered to pay Davidson to do some freelance work for his company, Blue Ribbon Sports (later Nike, Inc.) Knight offered to pay Davidson $2 per hour (about $14 per hour today) for the work that she completed.

For seven years after its founding in 1964, BRS primarily imported Onitsuka Tiger brand running shoes from Japan. In 1971, Knight had decided to launch his own brand of shoes, which would first appear as cleated shoes for football or soccer, and had a factory in Mexico ready to make the shoes. All Knight needed was a "stripe"—the industry term for a shoe logo—to go with his new brand, so he approached Davidson for design ideas. He had asked Davidson to make sure the stripe conveyed motion and did not look similar to the three stripes of Adidas. Over the ensuing weeks, she created at least a half-dozen marks and gathered them together to present to Knight, Bob Woodell and Jeff Johnson (two BRS executives) at the company's home office, at the time located in Tigard, Oregon.

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