Kobe Bryant is the name of one of the most awarded NBA players in history, which was born in 1978 and died in 2020. The legendary player shared his name with the exclusive collection, designed by Nike, which was launched at the beginning of the 2000s.
Before the launch of collaboration all collection with Nike, the famous basketball player worked with Adidas and created several models of sneakers, where his profile’s silhouette with Afro-hairstyle worked as the logo. It was placed directly on the shoe and was embossed on the leather details, featuring various options of a background, depending on the model.
In 2003 the official logotype for the Nike collection was introduced, and this symbol became truly iconic and recognizable across the globe, staying a symbol of the sport’s legend till the end.
The Kobe Bryant logo is composed of an abstract geometric symbol, consisting of six segments, which make up a figure, resembling a sword. Though its official color palette is monochrome, the emblem can be seen in different combinations, depending on the needs and background.
Their strictness of the lines and unusual shape of the emblem gives endless opportunities to stylize it, it looks sharp and serious in 2D, when drawn in white on a black background, and sleek and futuristic when used with a three-dimensional effect.
The iconic geometric emblem of Kobe Bryant has a hidden meaning in it. As the sportsman once explained, it was a sword, symbolizing the raw talent of every person, which can be developed and elevated. The badge has also an Asian influence, as its designer, Eric Avar, was inspired by the samurai culture when drawing the logo for Kobe Bryant.
Kobe gave his own explanation to the logo in the Esquire magazine. He said the emblem represented a sword in a sheath. But there was a deeper meaning also. “The sword is the raw talent,” explained Kobe, while the sheath stands for the effort one puts into developing his talent. It is your calluses and your baggage, it is your training. He referred to the logotype as the Sheath, which was supposed to be the official name of the emblem.
In addition to this, Eric Avar, who developed the shoe, pointed out that the emblem used Japanese samurai warriors as an inspiration. In Avar’s view, the warriors exhibited the balance of Bryant.
Though the Kobe Bryant logo is usually used on its own, without any lettering, sometimes it is accompanied by the wordmark, which changed its typeface depending on the needs. The most famous logotype style is a custom lightweight sans-serif with angular letters, something in between of Technical Forest Light and Machine Light fonts.
The color palette of the logo also depends on many things, whether it is used for posters, the internet, or the sneakers themselves, it can be flat and black or gold, gray or purple, moth metallic or carbon pattern, with colorful lighting coming out of the six fragments. Though all the options have one thing in common — they inspire and make people believe nothing is impossible.