OUGD505 - Studio Brief 1: Nike Jordan Brand Now Research

While my main focus is going to be on the Air Jordan sneaker range, to help get a bit more of a feel for the sneakers, branding and designs I need to look into the Nike Jordan brand as a whole, looking at what there currently is on offer.
I found that when looking through popular shoe retail sites, there was a lot of Nike sneakers on sale, but not really many in terms of Jordan sneakers. The only website which had a decent amount was Footlocker. In America it had 693 different pairs to choose from for everyone, but here in GB there are only 115. I have found that this is a common feature in all the large sneaker companies.
I then went onto the Nike store website as this will be the most up-to-date and best source of information when it comes to the sneakers.
Currently there are 80 pairs of Jordan's available to buy on the Nike store. These range from basket ball sneakers to toddler shoes. The majority of these are available for customisation with Nike ID, not including the children's shoes. As well as the original range of Air Jordan's, recently a lot more have been designed in collaboration with the Jordan brand.

Kids:

Women:

Men:

Newer additions to the Nike Jordan brand:

Jordan Spizike iD 

Jordan CP3.VII

Jordan Super.Fly 2

Jordan Melo M10

Jordan 6 Rings

Jordan Son Of Mars Low

Jordan CP3.VI AE

Something Nike seem to be doing quite consistently is bringing out a 'retro' range of shoes, revisiting the original Air Jordan's and re-releasing them with much more up to date technology/materials or a revamped design.

Air Jordan Retro 10 - re-released version of the Air Jordans X

New:

Original:

Air Jordan 3 Retro

New:

Original:

Air Jordan 5 Retro

New:

Original:

Air Jordan 1 Retro Range

New: Air Jordan 1 Retro 94

New: Air Jordan 1 Trek

New: Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG

New: Air Jordan 1 Mid BHM

New: Air Jordan 1 Mid

Originals:

Customisation

The Nike iD customisation option is not available for all of the shoes in the Jordan range. None of the children's shoes have this feature, and none of the retro/revamped versions of original Air Jordan's have this feature either.

The sneakers that feature this option are those which are new and original, such as the Spizike or Super.Fly. With the advance in technology/materials in sneaker designs, there are some quite unique options that can be selected in this customisation tool. 

One of these is the Chroma material selection, which gives the material a shiny gradient look.

Another is for the soles of the sneakers to be translucent.

A third creative design option that is available is the 'elephant' graphic colour, which can only be used on the base of the sneaker. This is a bit of a throwback to the Air Jordan III, where this pattern was first introduced.

After spending a lot of time looking through the website and going through the shoes, I have found that the Nike Jordan brand is one that is constantly evolving and trying to better itself with newer designs and broader design choices, but it is also very proud of its past, showing this in re-releasing some of the older pairs in a more up-to-date fashion.

Something that has caught my eye in particular is the 'elephant' pattern, mainly because it has suddenly been revived in such a contemporary way. The last time it was used seems to be on the Air Jordan III in 1988, so for it to appear again like it has shows that the brand is continually looking back to their designs and seeing how they can be incorporated and be made contemporary again.

This has been very useful in helping me understand where the Nike Jordan brand is and even if I don't use this information/content in my publication, I do think it will influence the general aesthetic that I will be creating visually.