Nike Japan innovates the creative process with Air Max customization in AR

Air Max, a cornerstone of the Nike shoe lineup has been amassing a cult following since 1987. This year in a world first for Nik, AKQA helped Nike Japan give people the opportunity to participate in the creation process of this fan favorite.

Nike Japan released a collaborative ‘zine’ called Create with Air Max allowing sneaker lovers to make their own unique mark on Air Max through an exclusive pilot experience. By scanning a black and white ‘coloring book’ style outline of the new shoe silhouettes, users can customise their own 3D Air Max designs in real-time. 

An AR model of each shoe hovers above the page, rendered in real time as the user colors each section of the physical zine pages. The user can then sign their finished design and have it transformed into a unique animation, which can then be shared online or even submitted to Nike as part of the larger editorial campaign.

Conceptualised and developed by AKQA, the zine experience incorporates the best submissions from influencers, and sees them published in a magazine along with influencer interviews, community creations, and the interactive AR creation feature.

The idea was born from the COVID-19 circumstances, which left people largely isolated, and unable to come together as they had prior, but also looking for new ways to explore and express their creativity.

Group Creative Director at AKQA Tim McDonell said: “The best creativity is often born out of restriction. Building a meaningful brand experience for a creative audience gave us the kindling to create something unprecedented. The combined skillsets of our Tokyo and Shanghai studios helped Nike to capture the essence of Air Max in a whole new way and turn this opportunity into reality.”

Source: AKQA

  Air Max, Nike, Sneakers, Tim McDonell