Senior Digital Content Producer (contract), Organic Growth Content × Consumer Direct Marketing. The whole visual machine, built from a pitch to Nike Brand Creative.
Air Jordan 1 "Chicago Reimagined" · photographed by me
$1.4Mannual production budget, owned to close
60–120pieces a month across photo, video and illustration
400+articles from the program still live on Nike.com
10–20freelance creatives on the bench
20–40crew on the big productions
Nike had never published evergreen articles. Everywhere else that genre runs on stock photos, and Nike would never put a stock photo on its site.
I pitched Brand Creative an original visual process, got sign-off, then built and ran the machine that produced it. Analytics proposed the titles and Editorial wrote the words. Everything visual ran through the system below.
The library
400+ articles from the program still live
Nike.com Product Advice hubs, October 2026 · Styling Tips, Product Care, Buying Guides
Four pillars, one brand
Defined with the program director, Analytics and Editorial
Exercise & Nutrition
Studio shoots with trainers and athletes; food still life, photographed by me.
6 Calf Exercises Physical Therapists Want You To Do Every Week
4 One-Pot Meals To Make After a Workout
Styling Tips
On location, full outfits, natural light.
5 Cute Outfits With Beanies by Nike
How to Style Nike Joggers for Work
Product Care
Product as object, tools in frame, steps in sequence.
5 Solutions to Stop Shoes From Squeaking
How to Clean Soccer Cleats
Buying Guides
The gear in use, shot to help people choose.
The Best Cargo Pants and Shorts by Nike
The Best Blue-Light Glasses by Nike
Three visual languages
Same pipeline, same brief, same review
Each article got the medium that explained it best, inside Nike's grid, type and crop rules.
Photography
Sport, training, food and product. Studio and location shoots, cast and styled to Nike's standard.
Illustration
For health and concept stories a camera can't show. A freelance team I built and art-directed.
Video
Step-by-step product care and training clips, cut for the article, the app and social.
How the system was built
Six steps · four beats each
01
Step 01
Define the System
Four pillars, each with its own look, all inside Nike's rules.
The need
A visual identity for a program Nike had never run, across four kinds of content.
The constraint
Nike's shoots had always been commercial lifestyle and product. Evergreen imagery was a new kind of shoot, and it needed Brand Creative's sign-off.
What I did
Set the pillars with the program director, Analytics and Editorial. Pitched Brand Creative the whole visual process with examples, got sign-off, and set a language per pillar.
Why
Permission first, or there is no program. Pillars tell readers and crew the look before the headline.
One of four pillar heroes
02
Step 02
Build the Pipeline
From a proposed title to a live article, 60 to 120 times a month.
The need
One repeatable path, at volume.
The constraint
A $1.4M annual budget, a two-week goal, Editorial on the words, Nike's DAM and CMS as fixed endpoints.
What I did
One path in Airtable: outline in, visual type chosen by pillar, creative briefed with a shot list, assets selected, tagged, placed and published.
Why
Decide where the information lives, and catalog before you place so nothing ships outside the library.
The path
Title → outline → visual type → brief → assets → select → tag → place → publish
Tracked in Airtable
03
Step 03
Assemble the Crew
A bench of 10 to 20 freelancers, and productions of 20 to 40 people when the library needed it.
The need
Creative capacity in three disciplines, without staff.
The constraint
Contract only, Nike's approval standards, and a budget per piece that varied by pillar.
What I did
Recruited photographers, videographers and illustrators, many through The Bench. For the exercise and yoga library, multi-day shoots: location, talent, crew, catering, payroll.
Why
A bench scales with the calendar. One big shoot builds hundreds of exercises in days instead of months.
On set · exercise library shoot
04
Step 04
Produce the Content
Direct it, or shoot it yourself when that is faster.
The need
Hundreds of articles, each with a hero and visuals that fit its pillar.
The constraint
Two weeks, the pillar's look, brand approval.
What I did
Directed the shoots and the illustrators. Photographed the nutrition series and the AJ1 launch myself.
Why
Shoot when the subject suits you; hire when it is better.
Nutrition series · photographed by me
05
Step 05
Catalog the Assets
One hero, cut once for every placement, found by anyone, for years.
The need
Every asset findable, every hero fit for header, thumbnail, app and links.
The constraint
Nike's DAM was the system of record, not a choice.
What I did
Designed the taxonomy and metadata, tagged every asset before placement, delivered crop sets per hero.
Why
Metadata is what lets the next article start from the last one.
H · 3:2 · headerS · 1:1V · 3:4 · app
06
Step 06
Run the System
Two years of cadence, and a program that kept publishing after the contract ended.
The need
Hold the cadence, report, and leave a program that runs.
The constraint
Seasonal reporting, budget close-out, an end date.
What I did
Ran it for two years at 60 to 120 pieces a month, closed budgets, reported to leadership each season, and left a library and a process behind.
Why
The measure of a system is what it does after you leave. More than 400 of the program’s articles are still live on Nike.com, refreshed with the original visuals.
400+
articles from the program still live on Nike.com's Product Advice hubs
One piece, end to end
Air Jordan 1 "Chicago Reimagined"
A launch story with Jordan Brand Creative, a stylist and a set designer, on how the 1985 original became the new "Chicago." I lit and photographed it. Recognized at the 2023 Nike, Inc. Global Maxims Awards.
