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This revolutionary football design is 8 years in the making. Nike went through 67 different iterations before landing on the final ball shown below. A team of designers and engineers all contributed to the progress of this study in improving the aerodynamics and flight consistency of the modern football.

Todd Smith was the design director overseeing the project, Arthur Molinari was the lead innovation engineer, and Miguel Herrera was the product designer before I took over as product designer in 2018. I worked on further ideating + evolving the deboss design until we landed on the 68th iteration that improved the ball’s flight-path consistency by 30%. A patent for this revolutionary football design was issued in January of 2020. (Patent #11148014)

I also designed the launch graphic for the Nike Flight Ball. My goal was to ensure that nothing would distract from the beautiful grooved channels of the new design. I wanted the ball to have a timeless aesthetic that felt both classic & modern simultaneously. So I kept it mostly white with 2 bold swooshes on either side. I also covered the entire surface of the ball in a subtle, color-changing ink to accentuate the grooved topography. In the right light, this ink highlights the grooves with a vibrant teal blue color. The iridescent ink also turned the entire ball a creamy ivory color that made it feel aged, yet futuristic at the same time; an interesting visual paradox that captivates the eye. Finally, I covered the ball in small technical details that hint at the data-driven nature of its conception.

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