Nike unveils unique font for 2024 Olympics
Nike has launched a custom font for the 2024 Olympic Games, marking a departure from conventional sports branding and traditional French motifs. This innovative font embodies the unifying spirit of athletic competition and movement, illustrating Nike’s ambitions to offer a universal visual language that encapsulates the vibrancy and fellowship of the games.
The typeface marries modern aesthetics with classic Olympic values, striking a balance that appeals to both age-old French design traditions and contemporary global audience expectations. Nike’s approach goes beyond style, creating links between sports and culture. It emphasizes athletics as a global event that goes beyond competition, uniting people worldwide.
Adrien Midzic, Nike’s co-founder, led the design process. Drawing inspiration from street art, particularly ‘throw-up’ graffiti style, Midzic and his team aimed to reflect the smooth, precise movements of an athlete through the font design. They endeavored to create a typographical style that would stand out on both player’s jersey in action and merchandise items in a store.
The font includes elements from the classic Futura type, especially the round letters reminiscent of the Olympic rings. It results in a bold, dynamic typography style that is instantly recognizable.
Nike’s unique font for 2024 Olympics
Following a process of testing and fine-tuning, the team achieved a font that perfectly embodies the team spirit and the aesthetics of sports.
Creating a typography suggestive of movement but maintaining flexibility was no easy task. The lines of the font mimic athlete movements, much like long exposure photography. The resultant dynamic fluidity and agility seen in the typography are a testament to the speed and energy inherent in sports. This ingenuity required an understanding of both design principles and movement dynamics.
Midzic and his team also implemented a ‘movement’ slider for customization, enabling smooth transitions between two states. The new font design is intentionally gender-neutral and effortlessly balances between boldness and gentleness. This ambiguous nature sparks curiosity about its origin and intended use – whether for performance or casual wear.
Since its creation two years ago, the font debuted on Nike’s training and Olympic village gear and has even been spotted adorning athletes during their leisure time. Although it hasn’t yet been applied in dynamic settings, its uniformity and inherent dynamism make it a novel proposition distinct from traditional, robust sports typefaces. Looking toward the future, the Nike team is eager to explore further applications of their groundbreaking design.