Nike House of Innovation

Through decades of discoveries at the Nike Sports Research Lab (NSRL), Nike has developed an unparalleled understanding of how sports people move – and the equipment that keeps them in motion. In 2018 the Nike retail team invited us to help turn this knowledge into a flagship concept store. And craft an immersive experience to celebrate Nike’s innovative past, present and future.

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Behind every Nike innovation is a community of scientists, designers and engineers. But that community’s hard work isn’t always so visible. While new products take centre stage, consumers rarely get to see the untold tales of design thinking, audience insights and sports science that make their favourite running shoes a reality. Nike wanted to pull back the curtain on their innovative moments and build a visual world full of heat maps and science data. The sort of place that was more concerned with the how and why of innovation. So we developed a flexible design system that always invites viewers to ask the right questions. 

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The graphic system mixes a family of grids with bold headline typography — both influenced by the work of seminal graphic designer Wim Crouwel. Inspired by cutting mats, each grid can be used to house and activate imagery and video, creating a grungy “work in progress” feeling that reflects the never ending nature of Nike’s work. Paired with minimalist typography, the grids act like snapshots of the iterative creative journey all Nike products must survive. All together the assets create a cohesive yet open platform to communicate individual product stories, and the brilliant thinking that makes them possible. 

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Nike’s House of Innovation (HOI) broke records for footfall and sales during its opening weekend in October 2018. And eEven after five years, the HOI brand toolkit is still innovating itself. Whether launching immersive concept stores in Shanghai and NYC or building a data haven for community running with Paris mission control, our brand system was created to flex and fit different communities, sport contexts and product aspirations. From full on techie innovations to soft science insights, our visual language handles each with equal care.

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