78 Artists Turn Kicks Into Creations For Nike. The NIKE78 Project.

NIKE78 is an exciting new project created by Paul Jenkins and inspired by NIKE. They invited creatives, sent them each a brand new pair of NIKE shoes and asked them to use sport as inspiration to challenge their function.

The 78 participants for NIKE78 are located in London, Manchester, Cardiff and other parts of the UK, as well as in Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, Russia, Tokyo and Australia.

An exhibition showcase of all 78 designs is planned for the London Design Festival 2010.

Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo LAB's Air Max Abuko Aquarium


‘ABUKU -泡-’

The shoes we received were AIR MAX 360, which emphasizes the air in the soles more than any other NIKE shoe. So we decided to create something based on the concept of air, the main quality of this model.


What we did was keep the soles filled with air as is, but take off the upper part of the shoe and use it to mold a clear material into that shape. This became an aquarium for goldfish, a representative aquarium fish in Japan.

What you can see from the relationship between a goldfish and air in this microcosm, a shoe, is the human society and the microcosm that contains it. It’s the relationship between the earth/nature and creatures, and the correlation between athletes and NIKE, who contributes to the characteristics of the human body by giving air to shoes. That is the thinking behind the name of this art piece, the ABUKU (Japanese “BUBBLE”).



We hope that the people who see this small aquarium built on NIKE Air will stop to think about the artificial/natural environments that surround us and the connection between humans and other living creatures. Credit: Akio Iida, Daisuke Maki, Michiyo Ooi, Kuki Aakaeda, Genki Ito, Takeshi KogaharaWieden+Kennedy Tokyo LAB

Adrien Newell's Nike Font


Based around the sole of the shoe, I wanted to create a typeface that could be used to represent NIKE.

As NIKE started out creating shoes for running I thought it would be best to go back to its routes. In running it is about the power of the athlete and how far they can push themselves, no technology is involved, and the sole of the shoe is where the athlete transfers this power to the surface. This became the basis for the typeface. I used the soles of the shoe to create prints and based the typeface on the digital timer seen at the end of the 100m track.

I have created three posters, ‘On Your Marks’ based on the start of the race, the second ‘Leave Your Mark’ which is about making an impression and leaving a legacy behind and the third is the time of Usain Bolt’s 100m world record ‘09.58′, an inspiration to fast runners. The word ‘marks’ is effective as I have used the shoes to print them and it is also a term used at the start of a running race -- Adrian Newell

Erica Dorn's Marathon Shoe Cake



The Marathon Cake is the edible negative calorific equivalent of a full-length marathon. It represents both the hard work put in and the ever-sweet reward after all the hard work. Currently available in white and dark chocolate with buttercream and raspberry laces, exclusively for NIKE78. Erica Dorn

Justus Oehler's Winged Nikes

As we human beings can’t fly, we settle for less; we make do with running and jumping. But the dream of flying is still being dreamt, and maybe one day we will literally take off given the right pair of shoes. Well, this is the pair of shoes mankind has been waiting for. The real “NIKE Air”.
- Pentagram

Andy Macgregor's ‘GalvaNIKEs’:

The principal restriction to the more extended use of training shoes has been their tendency to wear or erode quickly, but happily, mechanical ingenuity has overcome this difficulty.

Shoes can now be coated with a combination of lightweight metal impervious to atmospherical influences, known as GalvaNiking. Sports shoes are very effective during training but have a short life span. GalvaNiking your training shoes is a sure fire way to maintain and prolong their condition. -- Andy Macgregor


Bacause Studio's 'Footprints’




I decided to look at the marks left behind as we walk, jog and run rather than the actual shoes themselves. To do this I created a ‘foot stamp’ which would imprint on the ground as you walked in the shoes. -- Because Studio

Jonathan Bartlett's Nike Labyrinth game


For my project I was heavily influenced by the functionality of my pair of trainers. Their sole purpose is to make running more comfortable, a training aid for training the body. However what makes an athlete truly great is their mental conditioning and mind strength. So I decided to use my pair of trainers (the tread) as a means to train the mind, specifically mental perseverance. - Jonathan Bartlett

‘These Shoes Are Made For Kicking’

I looked at the shoes I was sent and the term ’sport’ didn’t seem to fit. There were elements of sport, but there was also a lot of design that was purely aesthetic. I wanted to concentrate on this observation, and make something out of the shoes that spoke more clearly about sport. I created a football using as much of the shoes and box as possible, although due to the materials probably more of a statement than actually something you could play a full 90 minutes with - Stephen Cheetham


See all of the projects at Nike78