Thirty-Five Dollars

Carolyn did.

Carolyn was a journalism major at Portland State University with an elective to fill … and decided to take a design class … she loved it so much she switched her major to graphic design. To make ends meet she did some work for a professor who ran a company on the side and often needed charts and graphs done up when he met with executives … one day the proefessor overheard Carolyn say she couldn’t afford oil painting supplies .. he had a looming production deadline and needed a logo for his products … well Carolyn did up 5 of them … he rejected four and chose the fifth even though he didn’t love it but thought it would grow on him … Carolyn invoiced $35 for the logo .. the professor paid it and hired her to do other graphic design work. Well the product with Carolyn’s logo on it was a massive hit and the company went public. One day twelve years later the now former professor who ran the company invited Carolyn to a company lunch … where he unexpectedly gave her a diamond ring engraved with the logo … and an envelope … an envelope stuffed with stock shares. Carolyn could afford all the oil painting supplies she ever wanted.

Today, nearly 50 years later, the logo Carolyn came up with is immediately identifiable with product … and even has its own name … The Nike Swoosh

The Nike Swoosh is a great idea because a great design never runs out of being useful.