In 1971, Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student, was asked by Phil Knight to design a logo for his company, Nike. Davidson charged Knight $75 for the design and worked for the company until 1980. After leaving Nike, Knight gave Davidson shares of Nike stock for her contribution. For years, the value of the stock was unknown.

Counterkicks got a hold of a recent Nike shareholders meeting transcipt in which Knight reveals exactly how much stock he gave Davidson and the value of that stock today...

"...we hired a graphic art student at Portland State University, and told her to come up with something that connoted speed, and we gave her $75.00 for what she came up with. When we went public in 1980, we called her back up and gave her 500 shares of stock, which she has never sold, and is worth close to $1 million this day."

For the sake of accuracy, NikeBiz.com reports that Davidson charged $35 for the original sketch. They also note that the stock was given to her in 1983 and Davidson says the stock has split three times since then.

The world of graphic design is littered with stories of artists getting paid very little for logos that have gone on to iconic status. For example, Milton Glaser never got paid for his iconic "I (heart) NY" logo. So it is nice to see that at least one graphic designer got some of her just reward.