Seen and noted

Design and brand visionary Andy Walker leaves central role at Nike Portland to join W+K/Amsterdam

Wieden+Kennedy/Amsterdam announced the hiring of Nike’s Andy Walker to the creative team. Walker leaves his leadership position of Art Director, Advanced Concepts Group, Global Brand Design at Nike HQ in Portland to become Creative Director at W+K/Amsterdam, working across all clients under the leadership of Executive Creative Directors Al Moseley and John Norman.

“This is a major coup for Wieden+Kennedy/Amsterdam and we’re delighted to welcome Andy on board”, said John Norman. “Andy’s creative reputation at Nike is already legendary. He’s been central to developing a present and future vision for the global Nike brand. We’re stoked that he’s joining us.”

Al Moseley continued, “With a background in design rather than advertising, he’s got a fresh perspective on where the ad industry is going, both creatively and conceptually. He’s going to have a major impact on the work we produce. Not just for Nike but all our clients are going to benefit from his appointment.”

Design award-winning Andy Walker, originally from the UK, has spent the last five years at Nike Portland where he set visual direction of Nike brand communications to consumers worldwide. Projects have included design strategy and execution on high profile global initiatives such as World Cup ’06, 2004 Olympics, designing the Nike corporate jet, and conception of the Nike iD retail Space in New York, a first of its kind customization studio for footwear.

“I started out in fashion, moved into sport, then brand design”, said Andy Walker, “so moving into advertising seemed like the logical next step for me. I’ve shied away from it for a while but the bug caught up with me. Once I seriously thought about it, Wieden+Kennedy was a natural fit, in terms of creative excellence, ambition, and caliber of clients. My background is design not advertising, so I’m bringing a fresh approach to the Amsterdam team, extending the offering.”