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The $35 Nike Logo and the Woman Who Designed It
In reality, the Nike Swoosh was designed by graphic designer Carolyn Davidson in 1971. Her invoice total for this important piece of design history? $35.
Creative Market
March 31, 2021 · 3 min read
How did the Nike Swoosh come to be?

Who is Carolyn Davidson?
At the time she designed the Nike Swoosh, Davidson was a graphic design student looking for extra money. When she produced the Swoosh, Knight accepted the design and Davidson continued to design for Nike until 1975. Once she graduated from school, Davidson decided to be a work from home as a freelance designer, which she continued to do for about 30 years.
Why was she only paid $35 for her work?
Davidson maintains that she doesn’t know how long she worked on the Nike Swoosh, but that she only charged Knight for 17.5 hours of work—which ended up in a $35 paycheck. While she didn’t profit immediately from her work on the Swoosh, the designer was eventually celebrated by the company when they threw a party in her honor. She was also given a generous amount of stock in the company (estimated to be worth upwards of $1,000,000), as well as a diamond and gold ring featuring the Swoosh design.Small Job, Big Payoff
While Davidson was initially only paid $35 for her design for Nike, the success of the Swoosh ultimately landed her a job for 4 years, much more freelance work—and, eventually, $1 million. Davidson’s work is a good example of how every connection in the design world can be important, and how little jobs and efforts can ultimately pay off in very big ways.Products Seen In This Post:


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