--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Nike swash that cost $30 and was…" description: "\"The Nike swash that cost $30 and was designed by a Portland State University art student was probably worth that when she first showed it to them. At t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/michael-bierut-10873_adidas_the-nike-swash-that-cost-30-and-was-desi_1673986.jpg" --- # The Nike swash that cost $30 and was designed by a… ![“The Nike swash that cost $30 and was designed by a Portland State University art student was probably worth that when she first showed it to them. At that point it had no equity at all. None of the guys commissioning it particularly liked it, they all wanted the Adidas three stripes and they…” quote by Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/michael-bierut-10873_adidas_the-nike-swash-that-cost-30-and-was-desi_1673986.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/michael-bierut-10873_adidas_the-nike-swash-that-cost-30-and-was-desi_1673986.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/michael-bierut-10873_adidas_the-nike-swash-that-cost-30-and-was-desi_1673986.jpg) > “The Nike swash that cost $30 and was designed by a Portland State University art student was probably worth that when she first showed it to them. At that point it had no equity at all. None of the guys commissioning it particularly liked it, they all wanted the Adidas three stripes and they thought that was a good logo.” [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A $30 student‑designed Nike logo initially lacked brand equity, yet its uniqueness challenged conventional preferences for established symbols. **In simple terms:** The cheap, new logo was undervalued but offered fresh appeal. Key Takeaway Value originality over familiar branding. Themes design branding innovation value culture Mood skeptical analytical optimistic Type business creative When to use this quote - product launch - marketing pitch - design critique Key Concepts brand equity design risk consumer perception Questions to Reflect On - How can new designs gain credibility quickly? - What role does price play in perceived value? A Different Perspective Established brands may resist change, limiting adoption. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adidas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adidas/) [Adidas Stripes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adidas-stripes-889462/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-students/) [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equity/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Good Logo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-logo-831213/) [Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guy/) [Logos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logos/) [Nike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nike/) [Nike Swash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nike-swash-889460/) [Portland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portland/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Stripes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stripes/) [Stripes Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stripes-thought-889463/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wanted Adidas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-adidas-889461/) ## Related quotes > [A poor logo doesn't mean a business will fail, and a good logo doesn't mean it will succeed - it just helps. Ultimately a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mickiewicz/a-poor-logo-doesn-t-mean-a-business-will-fail-and-a-good-logo-doesn-t/) [Matt Mickiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mickiewicz/) > [Ultimately a good logo is something that people recognize instantly and relate to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mickiewicz/ultimately-a-good-logo-is-something-that-people-recognize-instantly/) [Matt Mickiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mickiewicz/) > [We weren't art students, but we definitely created our own style and were pretty influenced by Andy Warhol and all the stuff we read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-schneider/we-weren-t-art-students-but-we-definitely-created-our-own-style-and/) [Fred Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-schneider/) > [It is the ability to determine consciously what it is that interests him, and why, that differentiates the artist from the art student.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-carlson/it-is-the-ability-to-determine-consciously-what-it-is-that-interests/) [John F. Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-carlson/) > [Most art students are generous till it comes to squeezing their colour on the palette... Many pictures haven't become works of art simply because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/most-art-students-are-generous-till-it-comes-to-squeezing-their/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [I like the idea of the museum world and the university-academic situation where artists talk to each other or where artists or art students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ad-reinhardt/i-like-the-idea-of-the-museum-world-and-the-university-academic/) [Ad Reinhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ad-reinhardt/) > [“group of aspiring young Mormon painters who called themselves “art missionaries” arrived from Utah, many to enroll at the Académie Julian. Their expenses were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/group-of-aspiring-young-mormon-painters-who-called-themselves-art/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [A very young painter is seldom alone. If he is an art student, he is in an art school with other students. He does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-alechinsky/a-very-young-painter-is-seldom-alone-if-he-is-an-art-student-he-is-in/) [Pierre Alechinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-alechinsky/) > [“Oh, Williamsburg. There was a point when you seemed like a scary, tough neighborhood, but now it's obvious that the graffiti on your walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imogen-binnie/oh-williamsburg-there-was-a-point-when-you-seemed-like-a-scary-tough/) [Imogen Binnie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imogen-binnie/) > [Warren Street was at the high end of the New Romantic scene. They were mostly college art students and people who knew top designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boy-george/warren-street-was-at-the-high-end-of-the-new-romantic-scene-they-were/) [Boy George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boy-george/) > [People can't draw now and don't feel it's necessary. Art students don't seem to want to draw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-miller/people-can-t-draw-now-and-don-t-feel-it-s-necessary-art-students-don/) [Jonathan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-miller/) > [The museum is full of interesting things. All kinds of paintings are there. And then paintings too thick to put in a frame, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-l-cohen/the-museum-is-full-of-interesting-things-all-kinds-of-paintings-are/) [Marvin L. Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-l-cohen/) > [I went back to my mother's house recently and I saw some of my earlier works as a 15-year-old art student. And a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-went-back-to-my-mother-s-house-recently-and-i-saw-some-of-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/in-a-personal-way-to-do-with-family-and-the-father-son-relationship/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## More by Michael Bierut > [I think once the artistic world of the type designer merged with the scientific world of the computer programmer, you began to see this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/i-think-once-the-artistic-world-of-the-type-designer-merged-with-the/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [If you do good work for good clients, it will lead to other good work for other good clients. If you do bad work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/if-you-do-good-work-for-good-clients-it-will-lead-to-other-good-work/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [A lot of times, you design a logo to be timeless, but with something like the Olympics, timelessness is maybe not something you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/a-lot-of-times-you-design-a-logo-to-be-timeless-but-with-something/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [I actually think it almost works the other way sometimes: making a college textbook, say, look really "user friendly" tends to also make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/i-actually-think-it-almost-works-the-other-way-sometimes-making-a/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [I'm not sure about my design work every time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/i-m-not-sure-about-my-design-work-every-time/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [It's hard to predict what will happen as reading on screen becomes more of a universal norm, and when the formats dictated by social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/it-s-hard-to-predict-what-will-happen-as-reading-on-screen-becomes/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [It was stone carvers in ancient Rome, scribes in the Middle Ages, all the way through Gutenberg to the present day. That's a pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/it-was-stone-carvers-in-ancient-rome-scribes-in-the-middle-ages-all/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [Australia is one of the few places that I can think of where the cities, at least those I've been to, seem to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/australia-is-one-of-the-few-places-that-i-can-think-of-where-the/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [Most people have no idea how much goes into designing a typeface. Twenty-six letters in the alphabet, usually with two versions of each, upper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/most-people-have-no-idea-how-much-goes-into-designing-a-typeface/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [The truth about logos is that they are not that hard to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/the-truth-about-logos-is-that-they-are-not-that-hard-to-do/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [I'm always conscious of the context, the history, the specific environment of anything that I design and what it is going to be operating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/i-m-always-conscious-of-the-context-the-history-the-specific/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [For instance, I assume those "carrots" we have on our keyboards were there originally to express "greater than" and "less than." Then they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/for-instance-i-assume-those-carrots-we-have-on-our-keyboards-were/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [If you look at the Olympic graphics for Mexico or Los Angeles, those programs don't look contemporary by today's eyes but they really look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/if-you-look-at-the-olympic-graphics-for-mexico-or-los-angeles-those/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [I wanted to be a graphic designer from the time I was 15, without ever having actually met one. I lived in the mid-west,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/i-wanted-to-be-a-graphic-designer-from-the-time-i-was-15-without-ever/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [Compared with now when almost everyone knows what graphic design is and has some sort of access to the tools to make it, back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/compared-with-now-when-almost-everyone-knows-what-graphic-design-is/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) [Explore all 63 Michael Bierut quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) ## More Adidas quotes > [I do California casual a little bit better than really small European cut, tight apparel But I can rock some Gucci when I need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-daly/i-do-california-casual-a-little-bit-better-than-really-small-european/) [Carson Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-daly/) > [The main challenge is technology and that's something I really push and work closely with Adidas on. They're real leaders in sports performance; always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-mccartney/the-main-challenge-is-technology-and-that-s-something-i-really-push/) [Stella McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-mccartney/) > [Brasil used to have - and still has, in some ways - a strong culture of showing off. And that's not only in sneakers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricardo-nunes/brasil-used-to-have-and-still-has-in-some-ways-a-strong-culture-of/) [Ricardo Nunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricardo-nunes/) > [EA SPORTS has a strong partnership with adidas and through this relationship they approached adidas about using some of their top players from around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudio-reyna/ea-sports-has-a-strong-partnership-with-adidas-and-through-this/) [Claudio Reyna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudio-reyna/) > [“Adidas produced a limited-edition pair of Haçienda trainers, designed by Yohji Yamamoto (Saville has worked with Yohji since the late 1980s, creating his catalogues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hook/adidas-produced-a-limited-edition-pair-of-ha-ienda-trainers-designed/) [Peter Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hook/) > [You'd be sick if you saw my adidas collection...you would be physically sick if you saw it. I'm not gonna say where it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-brown/you-d-be-sick-if-you-saw-my-adidas-collection-you-would-be-physically/) [Ian Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-brown/) > [I always played soccer in Adidas, but I always wore Nikes. I love street sportswear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-astbury/i-always-played-soccer-in-adidas-but-i-always-wore-nikes-i-love/) [Ian Astbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-astbury/) > [I'm a big fan of the Adidas three-stripe old-school zip-up tracksuit tops. I've got several for everyday wear, including an olive-green one, a burgundy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-armstrong/i-m-a-big-fan-of-the-adidas-three-stripe-old-school-zip-up-tracksuit/) [Jonas Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-armstrong/) > [I don't think anything I've done with Adidas has been shifted. It's been part of the Pusha T brand, has for sure been organic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pusha-t/i-don-t-think-anything-i-ve-done-with-adidas-has-been-shifted-it-s/) [Pusha T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pusha-t/) > [Put on your adidas and step off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-o-g/put-on-your-adidas-and-step-off/) [Ed O.G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-o-g/) > [Adidas is a very personal inspiration to me. It has enriched my creative life. It's an exchange between different cultures, different ideas, and most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yohji-yamamoto/adidas-is-a-very-personal-inspiration-to-me-it-has-enriched-my/) [Yohji Yamamoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yohji-yamamoto/) > [I have to love the DNA of the brand fundamentally. I need to be able to fuse my personality with theirs. That's what I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-scott/i-have-to-love-the-dna-of-the-brand-fundamentally-i-need-to-be-able/) [Jeremy Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-scott/) > [I love to shop, especially in retro stores. I have about a million pairs of old-school sports shoes like Adidas, so that's probably my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrot-top/i-love-to-shop-especially-in-retro-stores-i-have-about-a-million/) [Carrot Top](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrot-top/) > [The adidas +Challenge is a really cool opportunity for kids here in Los Angeles and across the country to get excited for the FIFA…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-wilson/the-adidas-challenge-is-a-really-cool-opportunity-for-kids-here-in/) [Luke Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-wilson/) > [Adidas has invested so much into this collab and into me. It'd be easy for any brand, with some of the spearheads that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pusha-t/adidas-has-invested-so-much-into-this-collab-and-into-me-it-d-be-easy/) [Pusha T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pusha-t/) [Browse all 29 Adidas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adidas/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Nike swash that cost $30 and was designed by a Portland State University art student was probably worth that when she first showed it to them. At that point it had no equity at all. 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