Eric Hu on the visual system behind NikeLab, tackled in 48 hours

Rounding up November’s Nicer Tuesdays Online, we rejoiced as one of our favourite creatives dialled in from New York. As former global design director of Nike and director of design at Ssense, Eric Hu has tackled some tricky design challenges in the highest echelons of the creative industry, and showcasing such examples, he took us through one of the first jobs entrusted to him during his tenure at Nike.

With copious amounts of detail covering the fundamentals of branding, design authorship and typography tips galore, Eric took us through the creative process behind the identity of Nikelab. Before he delved into the project, however, something he initially put to paper in just 48 hours, Eric provided a whistle-stop tour of his design practice to date. A designer who brings poetry to the way he talks about design, this highly insightful talk peppered us with many jewels, from “I make images scream and words sing” to “I get a metaphorical scalpel and try to take things apart”, referring to how he understands his role as designer. Concluding the talk with a couple of questions from the audience on how he creates variety from a sense of simplicity, Eric’s talk is a design masterclass crammed into 20 juicy minutes.