Kicking It Up

Exercise provides you with better health, longer stamina, greater self confidence, and a moment tucked into your busiest of days when the wind, the sun, and your feet hitting the pavement are your only escape from the annoyances of reality.

Nike is known world wide for it's quality, style, variety, and most notably, signature swoosh. Nike is an athletic brand, always on top of their game when it comes to the most ground breaking and current technological and engineering advances in the world. The Nike Free Run is a prime example of Nike's ability to create the most innovate and creative products in their field.

My very own Nike Free Run 1.0's

From someone who practically lives in Nike Tempo Track Shorts and Free Run Sneakers for early morning classes and late night study sessions, here are some of my current favorite items from Nike.

Pshh, between the uber chic tennis dresses and Nike's floral print sneaker collection born of a collaboration with UK based Liberty of London, I think working out being all about the blood, sweat and tears is just a thing of the past.

The Liberty Print Nike Collection

& Who said every day can't be a fashion show... (;

Nike not only provides athletes from the Super Bowl to the Little League with the latest structural advantages, but they also allow each and every one of us the opportunity to personally design products that can match anything from our favorite pair of shorts, to the colors of our school's mascot, all through a little thing we like to call, the internet.

NikeiD

NikeiD makes it as easy as Facebook ;) to pick the colors and labels of our Nike's right down to the laces, allowing for a new pair of shoes that is as unique as the individual who wears them. With a multitude of options in Men's, Women's and Children's, NikeiD is just another way to make exercise a more inviting and fun alternative to less active past times. When I was in the 7th grade I designed my first pair of Nike Shox sneakers, pretty much entirely in bubble gum pink, and I remember the added excitement they provided me with for gym class each day. However, NikeiD is not just for 13 year olds. My brother's 23 year old roommate, just last month, decided to design running shoes online, and we tried just about ever profanity in the book just to see what we could get away with. Unfortunately, there's another area where Nike never skips a beat. I'm sorry to say, "Lil Bitch" and "Big Wang" are too inappropriate to be printed on your shoes.. oh well.

But anyways, although NikeiD has been around for years, the technology it uses to make is simple and fun to personalize Nike products continues to never ceases to amaze me.

A Pair of Women's Free Runs 2.0

 

The Beginning Phase

You choose your style of shoe, as well as if you want to start the process with a completely blank slate, or a pre-set color scheme.

You then simply click on each part of the shoe, (or step one on the top tool bar) and pick a color for each from the options provided on the left hand side of the screen, until you have colored your dream shoes.

The final step on all NikeiD products is the unique personalization factor. For my crazy, neon running shoes, I chose to add my short but sweet nickname "LINZ" which will be featured on the tongue and heel of each shoe.

& Voile!

A Women's Track Jacket with Front Number and Back Personalization

The Blank Canvas:

My First Design:

A black track jacket, with my favorite number, 22, and a black basketball graphic featured on the back.

My Second, and Final Design

A black track jacket with a purple 22 on the front right chest and "LINDSEY" in purple across the back.

NikeiD not only allows design options for men and women training shoes and clothing, but also has options for all areas of competitive sports. I decided to design a pair of shoes that any feminine Tennis player with a bold taste for color would swoon over.

 

The 1999 launch of NikeiD brought the ease and constant availability of the internet straight into the shopping bags of the consumer in a way that few others had made possible. In it's current state, NikeiD offers not only online service, but 102 physical design studios throughout the world, an iPhone application, and the newest of new technology, a program called Nike PhotoiD, that allows users to send a photo from a mobile device straight to Nike themselves, who will use modern software to deduce the two main colors of the image and design a brand new, unique pair of shoes based on those colors. The design is then sent back to the customer where they have the option to purchase the shoes or send the image on to someone else.

& There they go again, pushing the limits and raising the bar. As if anyone ever needs to tell Nike to just go ahead and "Do It".

LHR