NIKE SB is the skateboarding sector of the popular athletics brand. They began in 1997 as a line of Nike shoes, but quickly became its own department in 2002. They signed Paul Rodriguez and Lewis Marnell in 2004, titans of the skate industry at the time, and made waves when they released their own signature shoes. In 2005, Nike SB collaborated with popular NYC designer Jeff Staple to make the “NYC pigeon” dunk, which made even bigger waves when a riot broke out at its release, and making front page news the next day (the first time since Jordan that a shoe had made front page headlines).
The goal of this booklet is to be an accessory sold with NIKE SB’s shoes and NIKE skate shops. This booklet serves as first, an amateur guide to popular tricks performed by NIKE SB skaters, highlight and provide a biography of the skaters themselves, show off some of NIKE SB’s most popular and iconic shoes, and to promote the actual wearing and individualizing of said shoes.
With the current state of the resale market, scalping has become rampant and destroying some of the essence of the original meaning behind NIKE SB. The nostalgia of waiting in line outside your local skate shop. The accessibility of being able to wear your favorite skater’s signature shoes.
NIKE SB wants to demonstrate that they still believe in the concept of wearing your shoes. Whether it’s Dunks, Janoski’s, or P-ROD’s, NIKE SB wants the shoes to look cool at the skatepark, not on a shelf.
A system of handwritten elements was established to create an Icon system by which the reader can determine how their sneakers will be damaged after performance of each trick. Each section describing the damage is encased by a “pull quote-like” element with the illustration of a skateboard.Other elements like zig-zagged lines, circles, and X’s were used to distinguish various damage applied to the sneakers
The final outcome of this booklet was a design that balances Nike SB’s love of sneakers and the skaters who wear them. It mimics the fun, dynamic action of skateboarding and the cool shoes that people wear while doing it. Sneaker Culture and Skate Culture go hand in hand, and it’s a shared experience between you and another person who shares similar interest. The vernacular and style conveys that love of a cult following, the idea that “if you know, you know” and if you don’t, then don’t ask in fear of looking like a bandwagon. This book mimics the skaters and sneaker-wearers of its audience: loud, colorful, all over the place, and fun is always the goal of every endeavor.
