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Air Jordan 12 “Flu Game”
Air Jordan 12 “Flu Game”
Release Date: 22 March 2025
Nike SB x Air Jordan 4 Blue
Nike SB x Air Jordan 4 Blue
Release Date: 10 April 2025

Features

The Design Journey of Tom Andrich : From Athletics to Expression 

Your tenure at Nike spans decades. What were some of the biggest changes you observed in sportswear design from 1984 to 2020?

In the early days, we worked in a small room, separate from all the other teams, a tight-knit group where we could bounce ideas off each other all day. It was an environment that fueled creativity and innovation. Back then, we was focused; we rarely worked on anything that wasn’t aimed at the next season’s launch. As we grew, so did our roles and responsibilities, and now with Beaverton campus, collaborating has become a lot easier. I can’t help but feel that with this growth, we’ve somewhat lost that initial intimacy and focus that made our work so impactful.

We were originally working on apparel specifically for athletes, and it just so happened that it turned into streetwear. Now, it seems like there’s a bit more intention to create streetwear pieces, and the focus on athletes feels a little forgotten. I feel like it’s no longer a priority, whereas back then, all we talked about was making clothes for athletes.

Can you share the story behind one of your favorite Nike projects or designs?

Well, my favourite story, I guess, is how the Challenge Court burning ball logo came about. I never know exactly what season the Hot Lava came out because it seemed like it was late ’89, early ’90, so I guess it was spring ’90. Anyway, that season really took off, I think it sold a lot more than expected and gained a lot of recognition, partly due to Agassi becoming more prominent and better known.

Nike Air Tech Challenge III Agassi Logo

By the ’91 season, I was working on the graphics again, just doing an evolution of what I had done the previous season, nothing too different. Then, Mark Parker, who later became the longtime CEO, at the time was head of apparel, called over to our building. We were all in separate buildings around Beaverton, as Nike hadn’t built the main campus yet. It was nerve-wracking because that had never happened before.

My boss and I went over to see him in his office, and he had car magazines spread out all over the floor. He was talking about modern and organic design. I was 26 at the time, and it seems kind of ridiculous now, but I was just nodding along, pretending I knew what he was talking about, even though I had no clue.

So, I went back to my work area. A week or two earlier, I had been filling up my tech pen with ink, this was pre-computer days, and I was making ink blots with the cap of the ink bottle on pieces of paper. We didn’t have computers, so we used things like the stat camera or black-and-white copiers; we didn’t even have a colour copier back then. Sometimes we would blow up those ink swatches on the printer, and they would make cool images.

I had made a bunch of ink blots, not thinking anything of it, but when I looked at them again, one of the blots looked like a tennis ball. I had never noticed that before. I thought it was pretty cool, so I blew it up and turned it into the logo. I didn’t change a thing, and it ended up being a pretty recognized logo within Nike. I think a lot of people recognize it today, all from that ink blot.

How did the evolving culture of sports, streetwear, and fashion influence your approach to apparel design over the years?

I would say things started changing in the early 2000s. Originally, we didn’t really have what you’d call ‘category boards.’ The first time they put together a group whose job was specifically to create cool fashion pieces was around then. I never really worked on that side of things. I was always in categories that focused on real sports.

After tennis, I worked in several different categories, but I was always in the core sports categories. I was in training for a long time, and then I moved into our field sports category, which involved actual uniforms. I feel like the early 2000s was the era when people started recognizing the shift. That’s when we began looking back a bit, seeing that some of the designs from the ’80s and early ’90s were resonating with people again. It wasn’t just about reissues; we were also creating new designs inspired by that era’s art and style.

How did Nike’s brand philosophy or mission shape your creative process during your time there?

Well, I mean, even when it was small in the ’80s, there was always this sense, among the handful of us in apparel graphics at least, that they wanted the designs to be different. It wasn’t always explicitly talked about, but there was a feeling that irreverence was important. They wanted things to stand out and just be a bit shocking.

It wasn’t something they directly asked for, like, ‘Do something crazy,’ but you could feel it in the air. They wanted the designs to look like something that hadn’t been done before. Even when I was younger, I noticed they liked the idea of putting graphics on clothes, even on pieces where you wouldn’t normally think to add them.

Nike Agassi Logo print

I’m not sure if that was intentional, but it felt a bit odd to me at times from a brand point. I’d think ‘this is a nice piece of apparel, why add a graphic?’ but they really pushed for it. Maybe it was because it was a cheap way to make something stand out. As graphic designers, we were all for it. It kept us busy.

Looking back, were there any iconic pieces or collections that didn’t make it to production, but you still hold dear?

I’ve heard that question a lot over the years, and internally there was always this idea of, ‘Hey, we should put together a showing of all the stuff that got rejected or didn’t make it.’ But every time you dig deep and try to find those pieces, you’re like, ‘Hmm, yeah, maybe they were right. Maybe it wasn’t that great after all.’

That said, I’m sure there are things that stand out. Actually, I do have one example. It’s kind of a general collection of stuff. At one point in my career, I was an art director for U.S. Sportswear—it was called something else back then, Active, I think. Around 2006 or 2007, there was a lot of pressure in that category to deliver t-shirts that would generate significant income.

I was pushing to create standalone concepts, quick hits in the market that didn’t necessarily have to align with an overall seasonal theme. Just something cool, not tied to a larger concept. One of the concepts we worked on was based on motorcycle art. I had this group of designers, and we did a mini-show where we really went all out. We brought in a motorcycle, had pinstriped basketballs, it was a big hit. The show was seen as this great reinvention of things and sign of things to come. Sometimes, you package something just right, and it works. For 72 hours, I was treated like the hero of the building.

But here’s the thing, immediately after, the layers of Nike came into play. Everyone had different ideas of how we should sell the package. We had the urban group, the active group, and so on. Each group started picking apart the t-shirts. One group would take two, another group would take three. They fractured the line completely, and in the end, none of it came out.

It was a case of something so good that it didn’t happen because there were too many cooks in the kitchen. The merchandising team got involved, and they split the collection up so much that no one could take it as a whole. As designers, we simplify everything in our heads and think, ‘This is easy, let’s just release it as a package.’ But ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be.

How do you feel your background in design at Nike influences your current artistic style or approach?

Well, right now, I’m focused on painting. I’ve been doing some abstract art, and lately, I’ve been painting my ‘greatest hits’ from tennis. Even my abstract pieces feel influenced by my design background, especially graphic design. They feature blocks of colour, stripes, and layering stripes on top of colour fields, giving them a bit of dimension. In a way, I think my paintings look like they were done by a graphic designer, they’re very modernistic.

I didn’t take painting in school, but I’ve always enjoyed it. There were long periods where I didn’t paint at all. In the ’80s, I made some paintings and then put them away because I was embarrassed by them. Looking back, I thought they looked ridiculous. But years later, I took them out and thought, ‘Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t be embarrassed. Maybe it’s just the art of the time.’ They looked very ’80s, and I started thinking it could be cool to revisit that style but with a modern twist. So, I think the paintings now have a bit of that retro look, but it’s intentional.

Do you see opportunities where your two worlds—sportswear and art—can intersect in the future?

Hmm. I don’t know. I’m not sure how that would come about. Sometimes I think about ideas like that, and I’ll think, ‘It’d be fun to do and pursue,’ but then I realize a year has gone by and I’m still just thinking about it. And I wonder why it takes me so long to act on what I think is a good idea. I’ve gotten to the point where I think, maybe it’s not going to happen. Maybe it’s just something going on in my head.

But not everything has to happen all the time. When you’ve had a career, it can make you look at things differently. Sometimes I feel like I’m not doing much, and other times I look back and think, ‘Wow, I’ve actually been doing a lot.’ But, I don’t know.

Nike Challenge Court Agassi Artwork

What advice would you give to young designers looking to bridge the gap between functional design and artistic expression?

I guess it would be surprising how many graphic designers I came across at Nike who weren’t that interested in fine art. It just didn’t seem to be part of their world, and they wouldn’t really bring it up or talk about it. Meanwhile, I was always talking about it and seeking out people and friends who were interested in having those conversations.

My advice would be to stay aware of the bigger art world out there and what it can bring to your design work. Even my wife and I say this sometimes, we kind of marvel, not to make fun of anyone, but when you visit someone with a design background and they don’t have art on their walls, I always think, ‘What kind of world do they live in, that they’re not surrounding themselves with art?’ Maybe that’s just me being snobby, but I find it interesting, design and art seem so interconnected, but I guess not everyone feels that way.

As for upcoming exhibitions or projects, I don’t have anything major right now. I’m working on a painting at the moment, but it’s not coming along as easily as I’d hoped. It’s actually the first one I’ve struggled with. I’m doing a Challenge Court commission for someone in Miami, and I’ve been enjoying it. I resisted doing those for a while because I didn’t think I could pull it off, but they’ve been turning out well and people seem to like them. I’ll probably keep doing those for a while…

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