The Original Jordan
The Original Jordan. A book focusing on the history of the impactful Nike Air Jordan 1 - from it’s inception in 1984 to the end of 2022. Detailing older interviews discussing why, and if, this shoe was supposedly banned by the NBA. To the time when Michael Jordan broke a glass basketball backboard during an exhibition game in Italy and how this led to inspire a new colourway 30 years later. Along with more contemporary collaborations between musicians and fashion brands in recent years, with much more inside too.
DETAIL
The Original Jordan
As this was a major project university module and therefore would require plenty of time and effort throughout the entire year, alongside having total authority in creating a custom brief and goals for this module, a good starting point for the initial research would be something that was of interest and more could be learnt. At the beginning of this process, research into iconic footwear alongside impactful pop culture figures was undertaken as it matched these needs.
After preliminary research into several different topics, the subject area was narrowed down to iconic and prominent footwear in pop culture. This research area was then further specified into exclusively the Air Jordan 1, due to it’s history and influence allowing a lengthy narrative to be discussed and then designed around.
REASON
The Original Jordan
One aim of the research phase was to find out if there was a target audience as otherwise this project would ultimately be seen by nobody, meaning it would be unnecessary to do. In order to do this a survey was conducted via a popular trainer, or sneaker, online community who were thought of to be the most appropriate audience. This got a positive audience response, showing that there was a demographic interested in this - one who has a deeper interest in footwear of this type and who would be interested in learning more.
This survey also gave more insight into what potential mediums this information could be conveyed by. This was useful as it ensured that the right decision was made when it came to deciding what should be produced, with a book being chosen in the end.
DEMOGRAPHIC
The Original Jordan
To emulate the look and feel of the iconic red, black and white “Chicago” Air Jordan trainer released in 1985, a red leather-like paper was used for the book cover. With a thick premium off white paper utilised for the inside pages. This inside paper also serving as a way to give a retro feel to the book too.
A colour-picked red, black and white matching the original “Chicago” Jordan shoe colours were used to give further reference to this colourway and the overall subject of the book. ITC Typewriter was used for headings with Avenir used for body and captions. A typewriter style typeface being used to reinforce the retro style and to contrast the more modern sans-serif typeface used for body and caption text.
The choice to have all photographs edited black and white except the main focus of the image - which was primarily a pair of Air Jordans. Was to give these a higher level of importance, compared to their surroundings.
