Considering today’s price per share ($60), that makes half a million. The best part about it is that the shares were never cashed up, and following the stock splits that happened since the total number she owns today is 8000 shares.

It may not sound that much, but it was a reasonable gift for someone that did such a small job to make it happen. What did 500 Nike shares mean at the time? We’d say approximately $18,000 at the current dollar rate. Once she arrived, she was given a special golden ring with a swoosh diamond on it and made her the owner of 500 company shares. She benefited even more in 1983, when she was honored by Knight for being one of the masterminds of Nike in the dawn of its development, and organized a lunch for her which was, in fact, a surprise party. Unexpectedly, more and more clients were approaching her impressed by her previous work, which is why she believes Nike had a lot to do with her success. Upon graduation in 1975, Davidson quit her Nike job completely and continued her freelance career. She was simply happy she got the money for her oil painting class. She didn’t foresee the popularity of the logo, or how it would affect her future career. Not even Davidson was too excited by it, and she described it is ‘a fair piece for the money she was paid’.

The reason why we find this story inspiring is that it tells us the world’s famous logo was not exactly ‘ripped off’ from the beginning. Eventually, she submitted the invoice for payment and gave up. Trying even harder, Davidson brought the swoosh to perfection, but Knight was still refusing it. His exact words were ‘it will grow on me’. The same as every designer, Davidson was disappointed by his reaction. Knight also gave a look at her work but wasn’t extremely satisfied.įirst, he considered the swoosh, and sad it could be an interesting choice, even if he was not completely blown off his shoes. Right before the deadline was over, Knight gathered five or six ideas and presented them to Bob Woodell and Jeff Johnson (who thought of the new name for the business). According to what she shared, the challenge consisted in the fact it had to be a logo that can fit the shoe, and look good on it at the same time. The idea was to draw an original shoe and then put it on a tissue to see how it looks. It took her about three weeks to come up with the final design, and approximately 17.5 hours to perfect it. Once Knight decided to produce his own shoe line instead of importing Japanese products, the logo idea was born and assigned to Davidson. Davidson accepted and continued working on a variety of Blue Ribbon Sports projects. Aware of her potential, Knight approached her and offered the graphics assignments at a rate of only $14 per day. But wait, there’s more to the story…ĭavidson didn’t even apply for the job but was overheard by Knight discussing how she couldn’t afford the oil painting class she wanted to attend. It was not a famous advertising company that asked for millions to reaffirm the company’s brand, but freelance designer Carolyn Davidson who charged a total invoice of $35, and never even thought she’d done such a masterpiece.Īs we mentioned before, the creation of this masterpiece cost only $35. How much did Nike pay Carolyn Davidson for creating the swoosh symbol? The company wasn’t even producing sports equipment but imported such from Japan (primarily Onitsuka Tiger shoes). The brain of the operation was Carolyn Davidson an ambitious Portland State University student hired by an accounting professor Phil Knight, later to become one of the co-founders of the Nike Company.īack in the days, Knight was running a business of his own, known as Blue Ribbon Sports. The Nike symbol is among the most popular and recognizable ones in the design world, but the Nike logo history is actually a very simple one. Ever since 1971, the Nike logo (swoosh) is backing up the brand’s quality, and teaching designers that the real secret of elegance lies in simplicity. There is almost no person in the world that wouldn’t recognize the Nike logo (swoosh).

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