New Studio’s powerful systematic identity for Nike Future Movement places community at its core

Multinational creative practice New Studio have worked alongside global sportswear brand Nike to craft the powerful identity and digital platform for Nike Future Movement, a forward-thinking initiative established to support and simplify the work of individual communities, activist causes and movements. Tasked with crafting a progressive system for a commercial context, New Studio were faced with the question; “How does one brand community activism?” The answer was, in fact, found in traditional media, such as broadsheet newspapers. Through direct reference and contemporary subversion of this traditional format, the result is characterful, energetic and visually compelling; challenging established media tropes by reimagining them in contemporary creative contexts. The strength of the identity comes, inevitably, from New Studio’s intense focus on community, making every decision and taking every step in support of the causes Nike Future Movement highlights, from variable visual systems – utilising imagery, typography, illustration and iconography – to the confident monochromatic choice of colour. “The Future Movement is the brand which holds all the community brands together,” Designer and Art Director Rita Matos tells us, “as each community identity is quite loud and playful in itself,” she explains, “we decided on reduced levels of information,” determined not to overpower community voices and their own identities. This variety of voices is embodied through the emboldening use of Pangram Pangram’s Formula as the brand’s hero typeface, providing considerable flexibility and visual vibrancy. “We were looking for a typeface that has a bit of an activist character, something that is strong and rebellious,” Matos notes, further customising the ‘A,’ ‘M,’ ‘V’ and ‘W’ letterforms to appear more dramatically slanted. “It gives the typeface more character and supports the word ‘Future’ and ‘Movement,’” Matos concludes, “we also adjusted the weights here and there to give it a bit more of an imperfect feel,” embodying the grassroots contexts of many community causes across the brand, as well as the personal nature of the programme.