Nike: League of Champions released

Found out today which of the Nike illustrations I've done have been released so now I can show some of what I've done in the past year! It's all under the "League of Champions" campaign but as it grew and expanded the format and audience also shifted. You can find all of this in my Portfolio > Illustration section.

The first round was targeting little kids (around 4-8 years old) and featured Paul Pierce and LT. (Lebron had one too but it was killed during production.) This job was originally Stan Lee's (yes, that Stan Lee) but he wanted too much money and the campaign wasn't developed enough for what he had planned. Lucky for me a Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy, where I worked at the time, knew the designers at Nike working on the campaign and they offered it to me. I jumped on it! Originally, it had a sort of "Space Jam" thing going on with aliens. Here are those original comic pages used as box art, posters, and point-of-purchase (POP).

We also created a piece of box art for generic shoes (not tied to an athlete) so that the campaign could still envelope other products and sports.

When the kids went nuts over those pages it was decided to "up-age" the illustrations a bit targeting young teens this time around. The "Space Jam" idea was killed and the storyline was put on the back burner to be developed later. It was also decided to make them illustrations rather than comic pages, dubbed "Battle Cells". So far Robinho's, Pierce's first, and Kobe's have been released. Kobe's was by far the most difficult requiring over twenty different, seemingly random, elements to be incorporated into its layout.

I've just picked up two more Nike illustration jobs for Lebron James. They sound fun and I hope to be able to share them with everyone before year's end!

Let's recap some old work.

Since I can't really share anything I've done lately I thought I'd post some older work I've added to my portfolio.

A few years ago Nike began a campaign called "The Lebrons". It's kinda cool to see the campaign has continued since it is rather entertaining and creative. That and I was the original retoucher on the campaign and it's satisfying to see it's blossomed further. The graphic below was done along with trading cards, in full color, as some of the first print for "The Lebrons" and can now be found in my portfolio under retouching.



It also amazes me to see these Nike Transformers booming across toy stores and online auctions. Why? Because I drew the initial concept art that sold the idea and made way for a Nike Lab commercial and then the full blown marketing cross-over for Optimus Prime (or Convoy if you're an uber-geek) and Megatron transformable Nike shoes. These are a bit old but these quick concept drawings for Marshall Faulk began it and can be found in my portfolio under comps.

Nike, Riswold, and Collateral Material oh my!

Nike's "League of Champions" is taking off again and people have begun to take notice. Before it was a project so little Nike wasn't concerned about me posting the work. Well, now that it's a big project I've got to keep you all in the dark for a bit. Not to worry! It'll all be posted again! You'll just have to be patient for the official releases now. Currently, I'm working on Kobe Bryant's illustration which ought to be released in early 2008. Just got word today Kobe loves the concept and to continue with the direction we're headed. Always good to know the celebs are happy with what I'm doing for them.

A lesser known "celeb", but even more interesting than a Britney Spears/OJ Simpson love-child, is Jim Riswold; a living legend in advertising. I finished up a few designs to help him with his self-proclaimed "bad art" this week. His work is crazy, funny, and smart. Go here now and make sure your sound is on! But be forewarned! His theme-song (I kid you not) is catchy and his love of puns isn't only matched by his love for dictators.

Finally, I received my business cards in the mail today from 4by6.com! It's not the exact same design as I posted earlier in the year but close enough. The color is perfect! The satin finish gorgeous! They look absolutely fantastic and I couldn't have asked for better. Much thanks for Shawn Crystal for pointing me in their direction.

Nike LT

The past couple of weeks have been tough but I've still managed to get some work done. The latest Nike illustration for "The League of Champions" was approved this morning. It features LT, who is probably my favorite of the athletes I have worked on so far. Since I make sure the Photoshop file is editable if Nike has changes, I leave almost everything on its own layer and, well, it's the largest LoC file yet: 1.88GBs! LT had alot of extras in it when colored. I'm hoping Nike is a little slow on gathering information for Kobe so I can finish up the pages for the SCAD Anthology. This weekend I am going to be so busy my head is already spinning. Anyway, here's what's been keeping me so very busy as of late. Enjoy some LT goodness!

Kobe Bryant

Get this: Kobe Bryant was disappointed when he was told I wouldn't be drawing a Nike: League of Champions poster for him this Fall. Let's recap. Kobe Bryant, yes, the basketball player, is disappointed I, me, Nolan, wouldn't be drawing a poster of him. He loves what he has seen for the other athletes. Kick ass! Guess he'll be super surprised and happy we're doing one for him through Footlocker instead. Shhhh! Don't tell him!

Ok, back to coloring LT's poster.

Nike: League of Champions

What has kept me so busy lately? Nike! These are two of the latest posters I have done for them. These are also posted in my Portfolio > Illustration section.