For the Holiday 2020 season, our EMEA DTC Creative Studio was given the reigns to craft the Global Brand narrative for the first time. It had to be both inspiring and sensitive to the difficult reality of living through a pandemic. We decided to invite athletes to view the coming winter as an opportunity and—through sport—to reclaim an extremely challenging year.

To add some levity, we invented the "EKINs" (“NIKE” backwards), a cast of playful characters to help members find the perfect gift for their favorite athletes. The EKINs were a hit, becoming regular fixtures across Nike’s global DTC ecosystem for a few years. After moving back to the U.S. in 2021, I even saw a kid at the Portland Zoo wearing an EKIN t-shirt.

My role: Concept, Creative Direction, Character Development, Copy

Nike Lead Design: Paul Hutcheson, Mia Stevanovic

3D Modeling & Animation: Colin Ozawa