For the 40th anniversary of South Africa's most iconic soccer team, Nike commissioned Mick & Nick to create the Nike Sportswear fan aparel in-store launch campaign. The campaign was to commemorate the team's 40th birthday with a national release of the Kaizer Chief's Nike Eugene jacket and other Cheif's fan gear. The creative direction was inspired by the Chief's head-dress and the legacy of the players who built the team.
To start the creative process we looked at quotes and memorable moments from the beginning of the Kaizer Chief's Football club. We settled on 40 key players that we could borrow a word or phrase of motivation that fans could resonate with. The campaign key message was to instil the champion mentality it requires to maintain a 40 year legacy. Thus, Legends Earn It was to instil the optimistic spirit that Chief's fans foster in their team which has been kept alive since 1970. The desired take-out was to enable the fans a sense of ownership of the past, present and future of their team, best experienced when they wear their fan gear and see the magic displays of skills and agility on the pitch.
To further play on the 40 year legacy of the team, we decided to leverage off the iconic Chief's emblem which I glorified by depicting a fountain and outpouring of passion that South African football legends embody. Ultimately the fans were the custodians of this history and continue to relish in the talents of these athletes by wearing their Amakhosi badge with honour. To further show homage we wanted the iconography to be personified by the words shared between these legendary players from the past four decades. To frame the Chief's emblem i used the classic wreath device as halo that graces the Chief's timeless side profile. To seal the meaning in the use of a wreath it allowed for subtle optics, by replacing the leaves with Nike boots – 40 pairs to be exact.
The wreath icon was pulled throughout the merchandise displays and to create depth to the black background we created a Wallpaper of Purpose. This iconic artwork was achieved by the help of a team and craft-heavy as all was done by hand. The Wallpaper of Purpose depicts "living feathers" of the Chief's head-dress, each feather is a quote from 40 legendary players who graced the pitch to defend the 40 year legacy of the team.
The Purpose Wallpaper showcased the flamboyance and mysticism of and exploded view of the "living feathers". The feathers and its shadows made for beautiful shapes that could contain typography the illustrators at Masters and Servant so masterfully executed on.
