PETER’S PROCESS
Imagine you were the creator of the most famous and popular shoe and logo in the history of sports. Instantly recognized and universally beloved. Icons so culturally relevant they still sell like crazy 40 years after their introduction. That would be quite a feat, and could potentially be difficult to follow up.
Air Jordan Chicago Skyline Jump Poster
Peter Moore, the creator of Air Jordan, the designer of the Air Jordan 1, the original winged ball logo and the Jumpman logo, laughably called himself a one hit wonder. If true, creating the most iconic and enduring product and logo of all time is a hell of a hit to have. However, while Air Jordan is certainly his most famous success, it is far from his only success over his illustrious career.
During his career, Peter was the driving force behind some of the sneaker industry’s most iconic and lasting designs, created images for dozens of athletes and teams, and directed the rise of several major athletic brands, including Nike and adidas. The amazing thing about Peter was his ability to find the right creative solution at the right time. He had a knack for tapping into the essence of an athlete, product or brand, and then articulating it in a way that resonated. A major part of Peter’s magic was his process for focusing his incredible creative vision on a problem and discovering the perfect solution.
Over the course of his career, it was never a question that Peter was a talented and visionary creative, but he really applied some simple principles to an evolving process he developed for maximizing that creative vision to solve complicated brand problems. He often said he was never the best illustrator, drawer, or designer, but he was brilliant at assessing a problem and having the vision to find and articulate the perfect solution. He followed a few simple principles like: the solution to the problem is in the problem itself, form follows function, design for someone specific, and the simplest answer is usually the best answer. He never lost sight of who he was designing for - the client, the brand and the target consumer - but never for himself. He had a clear understanding of what all of those elements stood for and used that as a guide to finding the perfect creative solution. It’s a formula he used over and over again with great success, whether designing products, creating logos, or directing brands.
The simplest way to look at Peter’s process in action is through the long list of incredible posters he created over the years to build athletes and teams into brand icons. He started doing posters for Nike back in the late 70’s. A poster was a great test case for the process because it presented a clear problem, how to best represent who this team or athlete is, how they fit the brand, and why they appeal to the desired consumer.
He started with personality posters. In those days sports was a bit of a fantasy, and athletes were far less known than they are today. He began by finding the core truth about a team or player. Peter said, “I wanted to focus each idea around the part of the player's personality that made them unique.“ Finding that little nugget about their personality, their game, their style that could translate to an image. It could be a nickname, a type of shot, or the place they were from. Something unique to that player that will most appeal to the ultimate fan, the kid that influences the kids. For Jordan, it was flight. He jumped out of the gym. Every kid wanted to fly, and dunk like Mike. His personality showed through best when he was dunking like no one else could. McEnroe was super cool, bigger than tennis, a true New Yorker with an attitude. He hung out with rockstars and actresses. His poster captured that swagger. Kobe’s California Dreamin’ captured the energy and excitement of a kid living the California dream. George Gervin’s game was cool and smooth, thus the nickname Iceman and the Ice Throne. Darrel Griffith was called Dr. Dunkenstein because of his explosive slam dunks, so he literally dressed as a doctor of dunks. Moses Malone as Moses parting the sea of basketballs. Lance Parrish, the Detroit Tigers’ catcher, literally with a real bengal tiger. Dikembe Mutombo, Alexi Lalas, Darryl Dawkins, Antoinne Walker, John Starks, Anna Kournikova, the Jensen brothers. The list goes on, but they all capture something appealing about the athlete and present them in a memorable way that appeals to the kid. These posters were very popular and memorable. In fact, inspired by Peter’s posters, the Costacos Brothers, John and Tock Costacos, started their own successful business creating over the top personality posters with hundreds of athletes.
Eventually Peter moved to another type of poster that was less focused on the individual athlete, rather they were inspirational brand posters that represented the core emotions of the sport and celebrated the authenticity of sport. Peter said, “The Innocence was going away. To reclaim some of that innocence, I moved certain posters away from a focus on the individual personalities to a focus on the emotion of the sport.” Posters like the “There is no finish line” series of running posters for Nike, like Urban Runner, or the series of adidas Equipment posters showing non-famous athletes competing hard in their sport. While these were a clear deviation from the popular athlete personality posters, they really were just an evolution of the same process. Define what is unique about a sport or a competitor or a category and showcase someone who embodies that truth. Authenticity and emotion can also be appealing, and in the end it shows a brand gets the passion and the emotions of sport, and that too appeals to consumers.
In the end, creative talent and vision are invaluable, and there are just some people that are incredibly gifted. However, creating a dependable process for maximizing that talent and applying it consistently will also have a positive impact on producing incredible and enduring work. While Air Jordan is certainly the highest profile result of Peter’s process, the adidas Equipment range, adidas Originals, scores of great logos and posters, are equally enduring if somewhat less famous. Sometimes creatives can have all the talent in the world but struggle with a reliable process and can be unfocused, undisciplined and thus a little erratic. Others have a very strong process, but may stifle their creative instincts, staying in line with that process and thus produce good, but rarely great, results. The sweet spot is finding a reliable process that allows creativity to flow in the most desirable direction. Peter’s process was part of the magic that allowed his creative vision to be realized in hit, after hit, after hit.