Keeping Your Balance With Jordan Johnson

Some people are taught to do things, while others are born to do things. Jordan Johnson is a person who falls under the second category. He has had a passion for sketching and designing sneakers since a kid, and over time his dreams have come true. After graduating college with a degree in advertising with a focus area of Studio, he became a full-time designer for legendary sneaker, and apparel company New Balance. Ever since, Jordan has colored and designed multiple sneakers for the brand that were featured on, Hypebeast, SneakerNews, and more. Check out our interview with Jordan below!

Q. You went from being a sales associate for Footlocker Inc to designing shoes and product for New Balance, can you describe that process to the people?

For me, bro, it's funny because I started working at Footlocker to supplement my dream of becoming a designer, if that makes any sense. But also, of course, who else didn't want to work at Footlocker at our age? That's like a dream job for a kid to sell shoes and be around sneakers, especially like how we grew up, always needing to be fresh, wanting to be fresh. We grew up in that culture of presenting your best self through material items like shoes and clothes. My name is Jordan, so I've always been into that sort of world. I figured out my path around the age of 13. So I'm going to get into my life story, lol. Throughout my whole life, my dad was always an avid drawer. He got a scholarship to CSU (Colorado State University), majoring in Fine Arts. My pops happened to be a well recognized local artist at a young age and won many awards at his high school, Denver East. Although he didn't finish college due to personal issues, he passed that gene and love of drawing down. So ever since I was a kid, I always loved drawing. I loved sketching, using mainly graphite pencil on paper, not much with color, but that's just how I learned. As I said, pencils and blending and, you know, graphite mainly. So I always did that growing up; around that time, my dad used to do hyper-realistic drawings; he used to draw people's faces and bodies and things like that. He would focus on things that would look realistic like his portraits were unbelievable; you couldn't tell if they were photos or drawings. For anyone that draws knows that type of thing takes lots of practice and also muscle memory, which kids don't that have at that age. I tried to replicate my pops drawings and was getting frustrated because I didn't know how much work and effort this takes. My dad told me these things, but as a kid, you think everything is just a gift that God gives you. It was then I realized, "Man, this is going to take a lot of time. What can I do to impress my dad? "like in terms of my drawing ability. Drawing was something I was interested in, but I always was into shoes too. I started developing a love for shoes around the age of seven or eight. My parents would buy me shoes and stuff. I was always one of the "freshest kids in class" teachers would always compliment my brothers and me on our outfits and things like that. So I started realizing that shoes had this sort of value to them, and also, I remember kids used to point out that my sneakers would have my name on them because they thought that the Air Jordans were my shoe. At that, moment all these things culminated in me, like falling in love with sneakers and just having this infatuation with him. So whenever I would get a new pair, I would sit down at the desk that I used and would put the shoe on the shelf at eye level, so it was like a still life. From there, I would do my best and would draw the shoe on a piece of paper. I began doing that with every shoe I got, and then sometimes I would go on the internet and then print out pictures of shoes from Google. The funny thing is it's funny all of my favorite colorways at the time of those models would be the artificial color. Truly I had no idea at the time that I was printing out these pictures of fake Jordans, drawing them to the best of my ability, and coloring them in with crayon and a colored pencil. I was doing it for fun. It was just something as a hobby for me to keep busy. And it was something I could show to impress my parents as I said before. That's what I would do is when they would come home, I would have something to show them. I love the response I got from them. My dad was a DJ part-time, and he had a gig with Nike back when Denver had Nike Town downtown, near 16th street. He would DJ a lot of the events at Nike Town, and one time he was the DJ at a release party for Carmelo Anthony's first signature shoe (the 1.5s). Ironically, the shoe Dwayne Edwards designer, who happens to be my mentor today, was there at the party. For those who don't know, my dad's a very personal, personable person, like he loves meeting people. He loves talking and, you know, uh, shoot the shit if you will. Someone approaches my dad and tells him, "you know there's the shoe designer is over there!". Mr. Dwayne is a reserved person by nature. He's the very opposite of my dad in terms of being outspoken. He's from Oakland, California. The guy is super tough, in a good way, though. So, my dad approached him and just, you know, started talking to him about his Jordan Brand involvement (which we will touch on). He also mentioned to him how his son was at home, drawing and designing sneakers. My future mentor told my dad that if I wanted a career in this, I could make it and described what a sneaker designer was and their job. The next day my dad explained to me the conversation they had. Of course, as a kid, I still love sports at the time, but I was starting to realize everybody was passing me up in size. Like I always wanted to be a professional sports player as we, most of us do. So, everybody passed me up in size and needed to figure out a Plan B sooner or later. After picking designing, I was all in from that point on. In 2010, Dwayne Edwards reached out, letting my family know that he was thinking about starting a school for footwear design. Classes consisted of learning the ins and outs of shoe design from the ground up, marketing, and pop, which is (point of purchase). I was asked if I would be interested in being a part of the program, which was taking place at The University Of Oregon, for three weeks. Thank God it was summer because if he would've held this like maybe during the school year, I don't think my parents or myself would have even thought about me going. So the fact that it was in the summer helped. Shortly before classes, he had flown my dad and me out to Portland, and he gave us a tour of the Nike campus, and man Omar for me like that was everything. Like once he took us around that Nike campus, I knew this is what I wanted to do. It was like, you know, God has a calling for everyone in their life, and I know this is the path he wanted me to be on. When you have a passion, you feel it, and it's just intuitive, something you can't explain. Your passion gets you up out the bed in the morning, and you can do it for free if you had to. You do certain things, where you don't even get hungry, doesn't even think about water or food because you're doing what you love. So that's what sneakers and footwear are for me. So once I saw that Nike campus and got to meet Jason Made, Justin Taylor, all these designers who are famous now, who at the time were starting up and starting to get their foot in the industry. Once I went through that whole process of meeting everyone and seeing the campus, I was just in love. When it comes to school, most footwear designers go for a design major called industrial design. Most footwear companies want people to be major in Industrial Design, but I knew I wanted to major in something different because I was getting this extra schooling. By then, I had been to Pensole five total times. Usually, most students learn everything there is to know about shoes in three weeks by doing it five times; what you're doing is sharpening that knowledge and honing that craft every time. Some people do in nine months to create a shoe, and we do in three weeks, so doing that process five times over as a young kid helped prepare me for the actual industry. Knowing this was my dream, I figured I wanted to become a more well-rounded designer. Learning the marketing aspect of it and the retail aspect would be the perfect way for me to round out everything. Working at Footlocker was me studying consumer buying habits and seeing what sold, what didn't, What are they not looking at on Saturdays? What are people interested in? So I had the luxury of working at the Aurora Mall and then working at places like flat iron next to Boulder. I became accustomed to two very different consumer groups. Seeing how people shop in different areas was huge for me. I applied to CU Boulder, and thanks to my counselor at grand view high school, I was able to get into Boulder with a late submission and everything. Soon after, I got my bachelor's in advertising after four years, with the second focus being studio art. That's how I got to where I am now, by trying to become as well-rounded as possible.

Q. How long have you been apart of the New Balance team and what’s your role with the brand?

I've been at New Balance for about two years now. The way I got into New Balance was through that Pensole class I was telling you about earlier. Anyone interested in the footwear industry doesn't know how to get into it because it's such an exclusive group. Please look into Pensole Footwear Academy, google it. Duane Edwards is my mentor today, the guy who helped walk me through everything that I know and got me to the position I'm in now. So if anyone's interested, please look into that program and look at the classes they offer. Sometimes they offer free scholarships, so basically, you can go to the class for free. It will test your character because people don't want it like they think they want it. There is a lot of late nights, and there's a lot of staying up to three, working with group members and people you may not like. But if you have a love and passion for it, it'll show and you'll get yourself through it. There were maybe 30 of us, and we came in from all over the world. Lots of people grow up with these small narrow-minded, concepts of life. Some folks have only been in one state their whole life and, that's all they know, and they never met anyone from other places. You're going to meet people from all over the world, they're going to teach you so much about stuff that you didn't know before. So there's about 30 of us in this three-week class. You have a marketing person, you have three designers, and then a 3d Designer. There is a full team that replicates the actual footwear team that it takes to create a product. What we did at the end of the three weeks had to be presented to the New Balance staff and corporation. There happened to be judges for each category, and funny enough, I didn't win the actual design competition at the time. One thing I tell people is if you're not the most talented, make sure you show up every day like it's an interview. That's something that I learned from my mom is treat every day like it's an interview. So every day, come in with a positive attitude, show up on time, make sure your energy radiates throughout the room. It doesn't matter how talented you are. If you're not enjoyable to be around and enjoyable to work with, people don't want to work with you or hire you. I think that is why I was brought on board, because of my positive attitude and my willingness to give my all. So in areas that I lack in talent, I Excel in those. After about a week, they called, and they sent an email and said they would love to have me on as a color material intern. For me, it was kind of bittersweet because I've always been preparing myself to be a designer, which is a little bit different than a color material designer. This time it was bittersweet because I was like, "I don't know if I want to do color material," but you know, I was like, it's a foot in the door. I knew that with this opportunity, I had to make the most of it. I could have been mopping the floors at New Balance and, that would be fine. We had just left in February, and in July, we were back for a one-year paid internship. When my internship started, I worked under the Performance Team for about a year, creating performance shoes under my mentor, Becky Fields. She is no longer with New Balance anymore, but she was a great mentor; she helped me learn the company's ins and outs. Everyone has the talent, but how do you design within a structure? That's what I learned most from that my first year as an intern. One of my special projects happen to be the Test Run 2.0; you all can look that up. Adara Dillabaugh, who is from Canada, is the one who designed the shoe. I was able to do the color material on the shoe, and we told a cool cyberpunk story with those. The brand also made me in charge of the sandals and slides category at the time. Many people were like, "Oh, sandals, who cares about sandals," but to be able to be trusted with the entire category as an intern was huge for me. I couldn't wait to prove myself and own that category. So again, I can't thank Becky Field enough. About three months before our internship was over, one position popped up for a lifestyle designer. You should be checking on the website while you're an intern to see what openings are available. Then apply for them because you're already in, so they know who you are, they know your work ethic. After receiving great recommendations and killing the interviews, they decided to bring me on. Long story short, that's kind of how I started at New Balance. I have been here in my full-time role for about a year and a couple of months now, and I love every day of it. 

Q. If I’m not mistaken your pops Jay Johnson was apart of the Jordan Brand campaign in the 90’s, what was his contribution in his time there?

People may or may not know; my dad did the song Be Like Mike, for the Gatorade commercial released in 1992. He helped write that song and create that campaign, which, as we know it today, put Jordan on an entirely different level in terms of his stardom and his worldwide marketability. So yeah, my dad was involved with that and the music that came from the Be Like Mike campaign. The story is he and a friend helped produce the beat. He has a verse on the full version of the track. There's a rap version that was not initially released, where my dad has an entire rap verse.

Q. Out of all the projects you have been apart of with New Balance, which one has been your favorite so far?

My favorite is coming up that I obviously can talk about, but can't talk about it if you know what I mean. But hopefully, there's a new project (which is where I design from the ground up in creating a new upper and making my shoes). That's something that's in the works right now, but definitely, your first project is always the most special. As I previously mentioned, Test Run 2.0, which I got to do with Dara as an intern, was super impressive. Mostly because it was featured on HypeBeast, something that all the sneakerheads look at. We all look at shoes every night, every morning to see what the newest info is on sneakers, and to see your shoe up there was mind-blowing. It was a crazy feeling to see something you created on this website you admired your whole life. I would have to say that that was probably my favorite, but the next one is my favorite, but as I said before, I can't speak about it yet.

Q. What was it like to work with exclusively with Kawhi Leonard on the “Black History Month” collection?

It was great Kawhi is a cool dude. In the media, as they do with everyone, if you don't speak or if you speak too much, you can't win. Like I said, if you talk too much, they always create a narrative about you, no matter what, no matter who you are. If you're outspoken like Dame Dash, they will call you this evil dude that doesn't respect people. Then if you're super quiet, like Kawhi, they're going to say, you're aloof, you're weird. So it's like you can't win. I met Kawhi, I think, two or three times now, always been a super genuine dude. His hands are humongous bro, it's crazy he probably hates hearing that because he hears this so much, but his hands are insanely big.

Nonetheless, he's always been a real stand up guy. His uncle Dennis is super cool too; I mean, it's just like your uncle and your cousin; they're like family. It was great to do the Black History Month Collection down in California with the Boys And Girls Club in his hometown. So it was dope, having him come out and speak to the kids, and they were super excited. It was just something I'll never forget. I love giving back to the community. I think that's what we're here on this earth to do, is to help others, and whenever I get a chance to do something like that, it just fulfills me. So that was great.

Q. There’s a writer that works for ESPN now by the name of Nick DePaula who did a article about your designer aspirations in 2007, how does it feel for everything to be full circle and come true like it has?

Shout out to Nick! I met Nick back in 2007, as you said. That was around that time I was starting break foot in the industry, no one knew who I was, but a lot was going on around that time. My dad is an amazing man. He ended up securing that interview to get us in that magazine. Nick DePaula and Steve Mulholland were super excited about my story and what I was doing. This young kid in middle school, who is being taught and groomed by Nike, is already knowledgeable about shoes. It was cool to me, but if that were to happen today, it would be a lot cooler because of social media and stuff like that. We got to do an interview Downtown in Denver, on the same day that they were doing a Melo exclusive issue. If I'm not mistaken, Dwayne helped out with that, too because he was still designing all of Melo's shoes at the time. Because Carmelo was a Denver Nugget, we had every single Melo that was ever released. They asked my dad if he could bring most of his shoes down for the magazine. Lots of those shoes that Melo was holding in the magazine are my dad's pairs. He was going through each shoe, sharing the history and why it was significant to him. Honestly, it was super dope to be a part of that, although I didn't get to meet Melo. But it was an unforgettable experience, Nick and I still talk today. Something like that is a memory I'll have forever. 

Q. You’ve designed shoes that have been wore on the court by NBA players Kawhi Leonard, Dejountae Murray, and Darius Bazely. What does that feel like to see your creation shown to people all around the world?

Man!! I can't describe the feeling. It was similar to seeing my stuff on HypeBeast and identical to seeing my stuff on Foot Locker shelves. Players playing in a shoe that you design is an incredible feeling. What gets me more than all those things is seeing it on people like out and about like, you know, regular civilians. For example, I went to the DMV yesterday and, while I was leaving, I have seen some guy on the corner who had on a pair of "327's" that I colored up. Just living life and seeing some work that you've created is fulfilling. For me, that's my biggest joy in life, being able to create art and have someone take it and enjoy it and appreciate it. That feeling is euphoria, even though it's not related; rappers and singers will tell you performing on stage is that feeling that you can't explain or can't get anywhere else. That's the same with this; having art that you created and having someone internalize it and appreciate it and love it is an incredible feeling. And that's all I want in life. Forget the money, forget success as long as I can have that. People appreciate my art, and that is all I want.

Q. What can we expect from you individually and from the New Balance basketball team for the remainder of this year and start of next year.

Man!! I can't describe the feeling. It was similar to seeing my stuff on I technically am part of the basketball team, but I'm part of multiple teams. So the way my job is kind of laid out, I'm like a jack of all trades. So I work on lots of different projects. I do a lot more collaboration projects now too. I am a part of many things like the campaign "Energy and Speed," which is catered to retailers like J Crew, Journeys, and Footlocker. There are so many different business aspects of the business that I work on. But in terms of basketball, we're always still creating for Kawhi, trying to generate more product capsules that tell his story. Just recently, we released our Jolly Rancher collection on Halloween, which is Kawhi's favorite candy. I feel like we have such a unique position at New Balance to tell his story because he is so "quiet" and such a figure that people don't know about. Therefore, we're super excited about doing that. Kawhi is the focus right now, but we will branch out and tell stories with our other athletes. Yeah, man, basketball will always keep going; I hope we get another ring this year. It's tough for me, and I can't lie because they played the Nuggets, which is my favorite team. So either way, no matter the result, it was a win-win for me.

Q. What artist in the music game right now is your favorite?

50 Cent is my favorite rapper of all time. I got pictures of myself when I was little, and I wanted to be 50 so bad. I used to have a small gap in my tooth. I even used to wear durags, well I still wear durags but, I used to wear mine in public like him. I still tie mine with a knot in the back as he does. That's always been my favorite rapper, but as I got older, he stopped rapping. He focused on other things, which is good, you know, he's a businessman too, still one of my idols. But now I would say J Cole is my favorite rapper, but I listen to everybody, bro. Like, I'm not one of these old soul kids. Like, you know, Oh, J Cole. I love Biggie, Tupac, all. I love all that. I love real rap, but you know, I'm not afraid to listen to Lil Dirk, I'm not scared to listen to artist like Young Nudy. Now I'm starting to branch out into soft rock, the eighties rock, alternative, and more. So like I'm just beginning to diversify my music palette ultimately. But if I had to give you one answer, I would have to say Cole, and then Drake is my favorite artist.

Q. When designing what do you have playing in the background?

So it's funny because when I used to intern, I would always have "Skip & Shannon Undisputed" on. For those who you who don't know, I love sports. Sports is probably my number one passion. Like I love shoes. I love footwear, but even like out the womb man, I was always into sports. I've always had a dream of being a starting quarterback in the NFL or being a point guard in the NBA, like a lot of young black kids did. Now that quarantine is happening, I can kind of play music in my apartment out loud and not have to worry about it. When I listen to music in my headphones, I get sleepy, man. To stay interested, I need some dialogue or something to keep my attention while also focusing. There would be times where I would turn on Undisputed, and people would laugh, like, "what are you watching?". I'm like watching Skip and Shannon come on, haha. So I watch that every morning, still to this day, around 9:30 to 12, and then once Colin comes on, I turn it off and put my music on. But now that I've been in quarantine, sometimes I start my day with music, if not podcasts. I love the Joe Budden podcast, so I watch him every Monday and Friday, only because I'm on the YouTube schedule. Many people use Spotify to listen, but I have to see the video there is no way I can listen to it. I need that full engagement. 

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