Nike x Offspring have linked up once again to deliver Volume 4 of the ‘Please Read First’ zine series - commemorating Air Max Day. For the third year in a row, I’ve had the pleasure of penning the zine. This year’s zine is centred around ‘’Failing Forward’’ - inspired by Tinker Hatfield’s early struggles to calibrate the iconic air bubble in the Air Max 1 - leading to the creation of the Air Max 1 ‘‘86’’ - the prototype that changed the history of footwear.
It’s a story of perseverance, grit and self-belief. One that we can all relate to. So much so, Offspring and Nike decided to put the spotlight on some of London’s loyal sneaker community, who are also creators, founders and entrepreneurs who have stories of overcoming challenges of their own. As the lead copywriter, I drafted the introduction text, a short bio on Air Max 1 and Tinker’s story, some headlines that riff on the ideas of failure, and sub-edited the main interview with Wing Shack founder, Joshua Jarvis (and all the other talent) overall shaping the zine’s tone of voice to dovetail with the new photography-led approach and, as always, the strong design language from by paq works.
