Nike
Product Development
AirImaginationAirImagination
Overview
AirImagination is a cutting-edge design tool that gives users access to over 40 years of Nike Air inspiration and innovation so they can imagine and remix the future of Air.
Signal
Decoding the Signal
Generative AI unlocks creative community empowerment
Nike's Gen Z audience wants access, not gatekeeping. They crave hands-on ways to play with Nike IP. With Air Max ready to reignite engagement, dotdotdash listened to creatives who were already using digital tools and AI to imagine Nike products their communities want to see and own in real life.
ACTIVITES
→ Audience & category research
→ Social listening
→ Brand & product immersion
→ Technical discovery
We immersed ourselves in Nike Air’s story, legacy and the upcoming Air Max DN8 to turn this opportunity into a larger movement – one that felt true to Nike’s history of innovation and empowering creativity.
Senses
Designing for the sense
A new AI-powered design tool for community self-expression.
From these signals, we worked with Nike to shape an experience vision and concept that uses generative AI to amplify, not replace, human creativity, putting more power into the hands of the next generation. Introducing Nike AirImagination.
From product design to AI training, we built a platform that brought community dreams to life. By uniting teams across marketing, comms, brand, product, tech, data and legal, we turned a bold vision into reality.
ACTIVITES
→ Experience concept
→ High-fidelity design
→ Training & fine-tuning LoRAs
→ Prototyping
→ Implementation plan
Conversational ai interface
We designed a conversational interface that helps users imagine futuristic shoes – balancing guidance, personalization and visual choice. By redefining how users engage with Nike’s products, we made generative AI feel expressive, intuitive and accessible to all – no design or technical skills required.
AI image generation
Nike built and piloted a proprietary AI tool in Spring/Summer 2024 through the A.I.R. design project and the Nike Athlete House in Paris, letting athletes instantly generate custom future Air designs from prompts. dotdotdash then worked with Nike to scale the tool and pilots into a new consumer product - AirImagination.
Nike Air Vault
We gave unprecedented access to the iconic Nike Air vault of shoes, colorways and materials to spark creativity and inspiration.
Community gallery
Users can be inspired by designs from the community, browsing and remixing from the gallery.
System
Developing the System
An ecosystem of community engagement.
Launching on Air Max Day, we expanded AirImagination across digital, retail, events, out-of-home, content and partnerships with DAZED. We collaborated with Tobey McIntosh of Crenshaw Skate Club to 3D print a physical prototype of a sneaker he designed in AirImagination. It fueled youth passion and sales for Air Max DN8, and redefined digital engagement across Nike’s ecosystem.
ACTIVITES
→ Campaign Film
→ Social
→ Digital Platform
→ out-of-home
→ Experiential, Events & Retail Activations
Experiential
AirImagination showed up as a touchscreen experience at Air Max Day events in Los Angeles and Atlanta, alongside a Future of AI speaker panel.
out-of-home
The community's creativity and imagination were celebrated in Digital Out of Home displays in New York.
Nike.com
Across the Nike digital ecosystem, members were invited to join the AirImagination experience and imagine the future of Nike Air.
Dazed Partnership
A partnership with DAZED generated print and digital editorial from sneaker culture commentators, and showcased athletes and icons like Tobey McIntosh, Olympian Sunny Choi and the NFL's Bijan Robinson's AirImagination designs.
Shift
Paradigm Shift
A community-driven future of Air
By opening Nike’s design archives, AirImagination became more than digital engagement. It set a new paradigm for community-driven design and product R&D, made possible by generative AI. More than a digital platform, it redefined how Nike innovates, collaborates and moves with organizational agility in the digital era.
