This image was drawn by Billie Jean as part of a marketing campaign for Nike which was celebrating 30 years of Nike Basketball by releasing a new range of trainers that were made in the 'retro' style that was popular in 1985 and the 'high-top' is coming back into style. There were 30 different posters because of the theme of 30 years.
The target audience of this piece would be teenagers, young adults and those interested in Sport, mainly basketball, and it would fit well in the Urban environment. This audience is reflected in the name of the trainer: 'Vandal', which has connotations to an Urban setting and youths who also used Graffiti, which was also used in the 80's. If we look closely, we can see that piece is a doodle, drawn in Biro pen. It is an American stylised illustration which have been simplified and is dreamlike and surreal. It suits Nike as Nike is an American company. The doodle is on a piece of paper that looks like the inside of a school Math book, which fits the target audience. Drawing in a school book in lesson is also considered vandalizing school property.
In the picture I can see various links to 1985 and basketball; the pattern of the laces becomes loops and hoops that the figures of player (one with an 85 on their back) are trying to get a ball through, the Space Invaders image which was popular in the 80's with kids and the finger sign associated to peace, which shows Sport bringing people closer and a bonding experience. The sign contrasts to the negative image of the 'Vandal' type and is importance as is also symbolic and iconic. There is also the image of dog which represents mascots and basketballs and circle prints that surround the page. These circular prints could be the prints from the bottom of the shoe, linked to the circular ball theme.
This piece is full of iconic images from the history of basketball. The portrayal of the figure on the bottom in the middle: hands held up with the ball and point of view which shows the figure towering above represents victory and power, which could be shown as U.S.P for this trainer. This builds up the image of Nike being a excelling and winning company and the trainers are of good quality. Like the trainer, this is drawn with hyper-realism, which makes it iconic. This image could possibly be Michael Jordan, one of the most influential and successful basketball players of the 1980's, who is really an icon. It certainly has good likeness to this picture:
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