Timeless?
- Oct 16, 2023
- 3 min read
"Timeless design". I believe this is a very complicated phrase as it is often very hard to define what makes a design timeless. But I believe that there are some simple steps that we can take as designers to help our designs last the test of time.
Let's look at a great example of a design that embodies timelessness to show these steps in action!
These are my very own Jordan 1 Chicago Mid's. Are they not a thing of beauty? Everything just flows. The lines all work, the dimensions are perfect, and the colour scheme screams danger for what's to come.
I could talk never endlessly about these shoes and their timeless design. However, I can already see you reading this saying, "Well if Michael Jordan never stepped foot in a pair of Jordan 1's then I would have nothing to talk to you about today". Let me educate you.
We will go and do a bit of history here for those of you who aren't into your Jordans. The guy above is called Michael Jordan and back in the day, he was pretty good at throwing a ball into a hoop. So good in fact that in 1984 Nike said, "Mr Jordan, we want to make you a basketball shoe so beautiful that in 40 years, a wee guy called Dean Quinn will write about its timeless design in a blog" (not a direct quote from Nike). Mr Jordan agreed to this plan and the greatest shoe of all time was born.
Now, the more eagle-eyed of you may have noticed some subtle differences between me and Michael's shoes. This is because my shoes are Jordan 1 Mids. They are a design iteration of the original Jordan 1.
Nike created my shoes in response to customer complaints about the price and comfortability of the original. In order to address the price issue Nike simply used less material, bringing the upper down slightly lower, they also decreased the lace length. The height of the upper was the main source of discomfort, therefore lowering this was a simple design solution.
Great, so you are all up to speed and ready to talk about what makes this design timeless? Perfect. Let's get into it!
I am going to be upfront here. Most of my opinions of what makes a design timeless have been influenced by this guy.
In his book "The Vignelli Cannon" he writes a one-page wisdom nugget about timelessness design.
The first thing I want to quote here is when Massimo states, "We like the use of primary shapes and primary colors because their formal values are timeless". Let's relate this back to my Jordan 1's.
What is the most prominent colour in the shoe? Red. A standard bright red. Nothing special. No tints of any other colour, no shimmer, no texture differences, just red. This primary has been used in countless designs of the past and will be used in just as many in the future.
The primary shapes may be slightly harder to pick out but they are there. The triangle created above the swoosh, the oblong rectangle that you thread your laces through or the square back tab on the heel, they are dotted all over the shoe.
Massimo sums up what defines a timeless design perfectly with this quote, "We like Design that is clear, simple and enduring. And that is what timelessness means in Design.". "Clear, simple and enduring". I believe these three things are implemented better in this shoe than any other ever designed. It is this reason that allowed Nike to expand on the Jordan 1 range with new models, colourways and collabations.
While these designs may not all be timeless the foundation that the Chicago Jordan 1 laid allowed for all these designs to be possible today.
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