History of the Nike swoosh and the birth of a multibillion dollar brand

What would Nike be without its iconic swoosh? Here's how the legendary logo came to be.

Transcript

00:00 Can you imagine Nike without the swoosh?

00:03 Nike's logo has been a cultural icon for more than 50 years, but that simple swoosh

00:06 almost died on the drawing board.

00:08 In 1971, founder Phil Knight and first full-time employee Jeff Johnson were considering renaming

00:14 their growing shoe empire Dimension 6.

00:17 Fortunately, Johnson got some inspiration from Greek mythology after seeing the name

00:21 of the goddess of victory in a dream.

00:24 And so Nike was born.

00:25 The natural next step?

00:27 A logo.

00:29 Obviously short on cash, Nike reached out to Portland State University student Carolyn

00:32 Davidson who provided sketches, working for $2 an hour.

00:36 Davidson's design was inspired by the wings of the goddess Nike, representing speed and

00:40 strength.

00:41 A full $35 later and the swoosh had arrived.

00:45 Not everyone liked it at first, CEO Phil Knight included.

00:48 After reluctantly choosing the black curvy checkmark from a series of sketches, Knight

00:52 told the Oregonian he recalled thinking, "Well, I don't love it, but maybe it will grow on

00:57 me."

00:58 And it's safe to say it did.

01:00 While the style has evolved over the decades, the swoosh is one of the most recognizable

01:03 brand logos in the world.

01:05 Over a decade later, Davidson was eventually awarded 500 shares of Nike.

01:09 She has never sold those shares and in 2023 they were estimated to be worth around $3

01:14 million.

01:15 Nike's total brand value is recognized at around $30 billion.

01:20 So when you're thinking of Nike icons, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan, to

01:24 name a few.

01:25 Don't forget Carolyn Davidson.

01:26 [music]

01:27 [silence]