HIGHER CREATIVE SCIENCE

Insights on Nike design process, leading values and the future of movement.

From September 21–May 4, the Vitra Design Museum will present a major exhibition exploring

50 years of iconic Nike design: Nike: Form Follows Motion. 

We’ve been in Basel, where we had the chance to chat with Martin Lotti, Chief Design Officer of Nike, who oversees all aspects of product, concept, brand and retail design.

Gabriele Casaccia: What does it mean to be a runner?

Martin Lotti: I think running is about the journey, not just the end result. I feel like the ones who think it’s so meaningful. Because you could argue there is no purpose to running, going from A to B. You have to find so much joy and richness and meaning in this.

GC: If innovation means creative process, do you think that creativity often leads to an aesthetic exaggeration more than functionality?

ML: I really believe at Nike it's a combination of performance, style and soul. But if there was a race between them, performance would win. I do believe performance actually drives a new aesthetic. So if you look at the Windrunner, the reason it looks that way is because of the rain.

And it drove an aesthetic. The reason why the Alpha Fly looks like it does is because of the stack height it needed: the combination of the foam that meets the plate that meets the Zoom airbag. It's much purer if you start with the performance that then drives an aesthetic, and that has been very true in Nike's point of view, all the time. It doesn't mean that style or soul is not important, of course it is. At the London Olympic Games, back in 2012, we applied yellow-green to every single shoe. From the fencing shoe all the way to the track and field shoe. You create impact through color, and the impact you have on a person is measurable. That's exactly what this was, you ultimately create a Nike color: Yellow Volt. It’s a code.

GC: A body in motion isn’t always an athlete. Also a breathing or dancing person is a body in motion. How do you transform this concept into a tangible form during the design process?

ML: I love this question because we study motion very, very deeply. And we can only do this by meeting with athletes, speaking with them, seeing them perform. By bringing those athletes into our NSRL (Nike Sport Research Lab) where we study them differently. 

When we did breakdancing for Paris Olympics it was a whole new sport for us, we had no data. We had a lot of running data. We had a lot of basketball data. But we had no breakdancing data. It was incredible how much information we got from the athletes, through listening and watching them. Then, when we actually got the data, it was truly art and science. 

At the end of the day it's listening to the athletes. Listening to the data. And then combining art and science together in order to create a new creation that makes sense for the athlete.

GC: The presence of the Swoosh is the perfect synthesis of minimalism and power. What do you think?

ML: I agree. I mean the Swoosh is so simple and so iconic. It says speed. It says light. It literally feels like it's flying. And then the purity of it. It is a pleasure to put a Swoosh on a product, it makes it better. Now the Swoosh also has become a symbol. A symbol for performance. A symbol for excellence. A symbol for creativity too. I think it didn't start as such, but now there's meaning to that. And we're very proud of it, we're cherishing it a lot.

GC: In sportsworld being fast means everything. Can something fast be timeless?

ML: I think so, if you look at other industries. A Porsche 911 for example, it looks fast and it's timeless. If you look at some of the shoes of the past, even if they stand still, they look fast. So it's how you design it. Now the definition of fast can change.

We spoke about this earlier in regards to the Flyknit Razor versus the AlphaFly. They both look fast but in a very different way. One was low profile, the other one is actually much higher, but the lines between the two still speak too fast. The interpretation of it is different.

GC: The last campaign talks about comfort zone. Does this mean Nike is diving deeper in people’s emotions to offer them a tool not to always push them over their limits, but to make them stronger, more confident and conscious?

ML: I love that campaign. It literally shows what runners do. They will go out even when it's uncomfortable. I think Nike always tries to create emotion, so that's not necessarily a new thing. We always say, when you look at a shoe or if you look at a billboard we want you to feel something. So playing with emotion is something that Nike has always done. 

What we're trying to do here within the campaign, is an extension of the Olympic campaign. And I can't wait for you to see the campaign that is coming out soon around the marathon. This will be another good one to see as the continuation of it.

GC: Air, foam and carbon. Is there a new element in the next challenge of Nike designs?

ML: You will have to wait for the next LA Olympics. We are already working on it. We will always push ourselves to new ideas, new forms, new technologies. So stay tuned.

pictures by Alastair Philip Wiper