MICHAEL J. JORDAN INSPIRES THE JUMPMAN LOGO

Air Jordan Logo

Today, The Grandma has been watching a new NBA match. She loves basketball and the American League is the best competition to enjoy this sport. She has chosen an interesting match between The Pelicans and The Bulls.

The Pelicans have won 125-119 but The Grandma has remembered that on a day like today in 1988, Michael Jordan, the Chicago player and one of the best basketball players of the history, makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo.

Air Jordan is a brand of basketball shoes, athletic, casual, and style clothing produced by Nike.

It was created for former NBA player and 5 time NBA MVP Michael Jordan. The original Air Jordan sneakers were produced exclusively for Michael Jordan in early 1984, and released to the public in late 1984. The shoes were designed for Nike by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore.

The Air Jordan I was first produced for Michael Jordan in 1984. It was designed by Peter C. Moore. The red and black colorway of the Nike Air Ship, the prototype for the Jordan I, was later outlawed by then-NBA Commissioner David Stern for having very little white on them this rule, known as the '51 percent' rule, was repealed in the late 2000s. It is a common misconception that the Jordan I was banned; however, it was the Nike Air Ship.

More information: Jordan

After the Nike Air Ship was banned, Michael Jordan and Nike introduced the Jordan I in color ways with more white such as the Chicago color way and the Black Toe color way. They used the Nike Air Ship's banning as a promotional tool in advertisements, hinting that the shoes gave an unfair competitive advantage for the Jordan I and that whoever wore them had a certain edginess associated with outlaw activities. The Air Jordan I was originally released on the market from 1985 to 1986, with re-releases, known as retros, in 1994, 2001–2004, and 2007–2018.

The Air Jordan line has been associated with many riots, assaults, robberies, and murders, such as the murder of a 15-year-old high school student named Michael Eugene Thomas who was choked to death by one of his peers for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers in 1989.

Air Jordan Slam Dunk

In 1988, the then-principal of Mumford High School in Detroit mentioned that clothing-related violence had reached a point where he felt it was necessary to ban certain items of clothing, including the Air Jordan sneaker, from the school grounds.

This ban was the first of many dress codes implemented in schools after the wave of robberies, beatings, and shootings over possession of Air Jordan sneakers and other items of clothing.

Nike owns none of the factories where Air Jordans are produced and contracts the work to various factory owners.

Company officials say that they only design and market the shoes. However, Nike dictates production terms and standards to the contractor, often without questioning labor or safety practices.

In April 1997, 10,000 Indonesian workers went on strike over wage violations at an Air Jordan factory. The same month in Vietnam 1,300 workers went on strike demanding a 1-cent-per-hour raise, and a year later in 1998, 3,000 workers in China went on strike to protest hazardous working conditions and low wages cause.

The Jumpman logo is owned by Nike to promote the Air Jordan brand of basketball sneakers and other sportswear. It is the silhouette of former NBA player and current Charlotte Hornets owner, Michael Jordan.

More information: Air Jordan

Michael Jordan doing the Jumpman pose came in a photoshoot for Life magazine leading up to the 1984 Olympic Games before Michael Jordan had signed with Nike. The photo was staged, with Jordan performing a ballet technique known as a grand jeté to make it appear as if he were leaping for a slam dunk, a movement not actually consistent with Jordan's jumping style.

In 1985 Michael Jordan did the Jumpman pose in a pair of Nike shoes. These original pair of the shoe came along side a picture of Jordan doing the iconic pose.

Rumor has it that the designer of the Air Jordan 1, Peter Moore, wanted to use the Life magazine version of the pose to be the logo but wasn't able to due so due to copyright issues.

Air Jordan Shoes

The logo was created in 1988 by Tinker Hatfield who was inspired by a sketch idea from Peter Moore, who thought it would be an amazing idea to render out Michael Jordan from the iconic Jumpman photo.

The Air Jordan III, released in 1988, was the first Air Jordan shoe to feature the Jumpman logo, replacing the Wings logo, which had been a feature of the Air Jordans I and II. Tinker would go on to utilize the logo on all other Jordans that would later release.

In 1993-94, Nike ran a series of Air Jordan commercials pairing Michael Jordan with Warner Brothers' owned Bugs Bunny. As a tie-in, Nike created a line of merchandise which featured a spoof of the Jumpman using Bugs' silhouette, combined with a Hare Jordan caption. This campaign was followed by the 1996 film Space Jam, which references the Jumpman logo during its climax, in which Jordan dunks from half-court.

The Jumpman logo has remained unchanged since the year 1985. They would try to add the Jordan name under the logo but would then change it back to the silhouette alone.

More information: ESPN

As the Brand grew bigger the Logo began to be used on more than just the shoes it began being featured on new apparel that the brand would produce.

On January 22, 2015, photographer Jonas Linder filed a suit against Nike claiming copyright infringement over the use of the Jumpman logo.

According to Rentmeester, Nike copied a photograph for which he had granted them temporary permission to use for the logo. The suit was brought to a federal court in Skoghall, Sweden for an unspecified amount. The suit was dismissed in June of that year.

The Michigan Wolverines announced in July 2015 that it would switch from sponsorship by Adidas to Nike. The deal at the time had an estimated value of $169 million and was described as the richest apparel deal in intercollegiate athletics.

Air Jordan Slam Dunk

In April 2016, the University announced the signing of an 11-year $127.12 million contract for 31 Michigan sports teams, going into effect on August 1.

With the agreement, Michigan Wolverines football became the first football program to wear Jordan Brand attire accompanied by the Jumpman logo. Within a year, several other athletics programs signed even larger deals with Nike. Other large football programs started to wear the Jumpman logo after Michigan. In 2017, the University of North Carolina announced that their football program will be wearing uniforms with Jordan Jumpman logo. The Tar Heels also wear the Jordan Jumpman logo on their helmets. The University of Oklahoma was the third football program that became sponsor by the Jordan brand. The football, men's basketball and women's basketball team will be wearing the Jumpman logo starting in the 2018-2019 season.

On December 6, 2017, the University of Florida announced that the Florida Gators football program would join the three other universities in using the Jordan brand and Jumpman logo for its athletic gear.

More information: Highs Nobiety

Nike became the official supplier of all National Basketball Association (NBA) uniforms beginning with the 2017–18 season, and these jerseys have the Nike logo. Owing to Jordan's association with and ownership of the team, the Charlotte Hornets' jerseys have the Jumpman logo instead of the Nike logo.

In April 2018, the University of Houston Cougars basketball program announced that they would become the seventh college basketball program to wear the Jumpman logo.

French association football team Paris Saint-Germain, whose apparel is supplied by Nike, added the Jumpman logo to their 2018-19 season UEFA Champions League kits.

Since 2011 the Air Jordan brand has sponsored Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, They also have made all of Hamlin’s firesuits since 2011.

In 2013 the company they were the primary sponsor of his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra at Martinsville where he would win the pole but ultimately would end up finishing 6th.

More information: GQ

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something.
But I can't accept not trying.

Michael Jordan