“It’s been said that the best way to predict the future is to create it.” These are the poignant opening forewords of Nike’s Chief Design Officer, John Hoke in the iconic label’s new book “No Finish Line”, as Nike celebrates fifty years of groundbreaking design, innovation and creativity in the service of athletes around the world.
Aiming to celebrate design as an endless journey as opposed to a final outcome, the book features a range of speculative and critical conversations around sport research, manufacturing and technology – an eye-opening vision of the next fifty years. Of the pocket-sized paperback’s inspiring name, Hoke set the tone: that there is no finish line in design.. “It’s not a lazy reference to an unending grind or destination-less journey, but rather an expression of our belief in the limitless potential of sport — and design.”
Designed by Zak Group and filled with breathtaking illustrations by renowned Portuguese graphic designer and illustrator Bráulio Amado, alongside synthesised imagery by PWR, traditional paperback bookmaking meets a modern twist with “No Finish Line”s range of graphic-rich layouts and expressive visual collages in this thought-provoking new multimedia release.
Alongside Hoke’s insightful forewords include speculative fiction pieces by journalist Geoff Manaugh and selected essays by “Nike: Better Is Temporary” author Sam Grawe. Taking inspiration from more than a dozen interviews with Nike’s most influential and inspiring engineers, researchers, leaders and designers, the essays explore the five key design shifts that we may see over the coming decades using unprecedented insights into the legendary brand’s one-of-a-kind creative process. Symbolising Nike’s raw innovation through the lens of the athletes, designers and scientists, “No Finish Line” encourages us to consider the journey, not the outcome – that by simply daring to create it, we can shape a better future.
“No Finish Line” will be released on the 14th of February at 26$ (£21) via selected booksellers including: Actual Source Books, Machus and Printed Matter, Inc. in the US; Artwords Bookshop, Counterpoint, Design Museum Den Bosch, do you read me?!, ICA Bookstore, Librairie Sans Titre, MagCulture, Papercut, Vitra Design Museum and Yvon Lambert in Europe; and Bianji, Commune, DAIKANYAMA T-SITE and NADiff a/p/a/r/t in Japan.
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