»I want to hear from others. I want them to tell me what they feel and see. To invite others into the design process – it’s a beautiful thing. «

Nike's Chief Design Officer, Martin Lotti, who hails from Switzerland, has been a transformative force in the world of design. His tenure at Nike has seen him influence a wide range of design aspects, from innovative footwear and apparel to comprehensive brand and retail concepts.  

VDM:

What was your first encounter with Nike? 

Martin Lotti:  

When I was an exchange student, my host family brought me to the Niketown in Portland. I walked into that store, then walked out of that store, completely frustrated. Everything in there, I wanted. So I sat down, counted my money. What can I afford? Then I went back into the store and bought a pair of Air Max 180s and a Jordan Wings poster.  

Never would I have imagined that I years later, I would get to design the next Air Max.

It's been quite the journey. Nike keeps throwing you in at the deep end of the pool. They say, “Just do it.” It's not just a slogan, it’s a way of working, a way of life. 

VDM:  

One of the biggest projects you’ve undertaken at Nike had to do with the 2012 London Olympics. What everybody remembers about that event is the rollout of Volt across the whole range of sports, that bright yellow color.

Martin Lotti:  

It's a story of how to create impact with a limited set of tools. Nike was not a sponsor of the event, so we had to follow many rules and regulations. You could see this as restrictive, but I truly believe that limits force the designer to be more creative. I thought, what if we pick just one color across all federations, and use the color that is the most visible to your eye? That happens to be the color Volt. It's the same as a fluorescent safety jacket. 

Traditionally, the approach would've been to match apparel and footwear. But what if we actually use one color as a tool to unify all the federations?

VDM: 

It was a bold creative move, but the way you describe it, it was also like solving an equation. Is there a specific logic to design?  

Martin Lotti: 

I truly believe design is problem-solving. That's the beauty of Nike: you don't just take a white piece of paper and say, “What am I going to draw today?” Instead, you’re asking, “What problems for the athletes am I going to solve today?” That gives you a really strong starting point and also a lot of authenticity. It allows us to set trends and create distinction, not just creating new, but new and better. Throughout all the years I've been at Nike, that has been a common thread. 

VDM:  

Looking back at your time with the company, what would you say the main drivers of change have been?  

Martin Lotti:  

Over the past 27 years, a lot has changed. But believe it or not, it's probably more similar than different. The methodology has really not changed throughout the years. Yes, the athletes will push you, as they push themselves. They really are at the front end. So if they're doing it, we should be doing it, too. Even the emotional side of it: before MJ people were playing basketball, after Michael Jordan, people were living basketball. That dance between performance and emotion has always been there.

Now what has changed is the tools. When I first started, we were faxing our patterns to the factories and now we can design them in 3D. Before, you were limited in time; you drew something, then you had to send it to a factory, they built it and it came back. It was quite a lot of back-and-forth, so time was a constraint. Now your only constraint is your imagination.

VDM:  

How do you balance digital and physical elements in your work?  

Martin Lotti:  

The more digital you go, the more physical you have to go, too. At least that's my opinion. I think the juxtaposition of the two worlds is interesting: if you just work digitally, at some point it really feels cold. So I think it's going from both ends of the spectrum and then you meet in-between. It starts with a problem that you're trying to solve, listening to the athletes, bringing cultural insight into it, getting inspired by either athletes or culture,  and then envisioning it through digital and physical tools.

VDM:

Many Nike Products like the Air Jordan have become icons of pop culture, of youth culture. Do aspects like society or desire play a role when designing?

Martin Lotti: 

Designing becomes so much more interesting when you combine performance, style, and soul. Yes, we always start with the NSRL, the Nike Sport Research Lab.* We start with athletes. But we don't stop there. For example, two weeks from now I will take my design team to Japan and there's only one rule I have: we'll look at everything but shoes. Go and look at nature, architecture, art. We’re meeting with artisan bow-makers. They have nothing to do technically with shoes, but we can learn from the essence of what they do, the obsession, the craft, what is right for their culture. And we can connect to that.  

I always say trends start at midnight. Look at youth culture, how they dress and express themselves when they're out at night. It’s the best way to discover what's happening; it's seeking out cultural signals. That does not mean we are not seeking out athletes. But you're also feeling what's out there, not mass culture yet. And then you translate this. 

VDM:  

One last question. How do you think designing for Nike compares with automotive design, furniture design, fashion, interior design?  

Martin Lotti:  

I do think there are a lot of similarities. I think a good designer is a good listener. You have to serve a concept, then you design the product, and then you tell the story around it. I would venture to say that the approach is more similar than it is different. Because at the end of the day, it’s to make a functional yet emotional product to fall in love with. 

*The Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) was founded in 1980 in Exeter, New Hampshire and is the largest sport research facility in the world.