Why a Footwear Designer Started Making Knives

Rick Maderis has spent more than twenty years inside adidas, Nike, Jordan Brand and Curry Brand, working on the graphics, color and storytelling that rarely get a name attached. Now he runs Burnside Knives in Portland, and you can see the sneaker brain in every piece. Rick and I played phone tag for close to a year before this happened, and it was worth the wait. We talk about the fire drills that end up producing better work, tilting the adidas trefoil fifteen degrees and hearing about it, why retros carry more pressure than new shoes, the Doernbecher Air Jordan 15, and asking whether you're the right person for a project before you say yes. Then it's knives: how a sneaker graphic designer ended up with KNIVES on his license plate, why the handle is a magma grip and not elephant print, and the Lost Lake Easter egg hidden in the Cabrillo 2. CHAPTERS 00:00 Coming up: the Doernbecher kid, and the other side of the river 00:30 Why this conversation took a year 01:57 The conversation starts 03:39 A coloring book and a grandfather 03:57 Art school to adidas, Jordan and Curry Brand 06:27 Is getting moved around good or bad for creatives? 10:46 Big brands vs small teams: who actually does the work 12:35 Fire drills and better work 17:41 Redrawing a grail Jordan pattern from scratch 20:26 Jason Mayden: make them feel something 22:11 Tilting the trefoil 15 degrees 25:13 Sharpening every single edge 26:24 Breaking the Jordan formula 30:26 Why kids should watch the WNBA 36:34 CCS, 5 a.m. phones and skate catalogs 38:47 The Doernbecher Air Jordan 15 43:12 Lewis Latimer, Bruce Lee, and asking first 47:37 Why heritage collections get cut first 50:50 How he got into PENSOLE 55:24 Leaks, mockups and Easter at the drugstore 1:01:08 How Burnside Knives started 1:04:20 Why it's called Burnside 1:07:15 KNIVES on the license plate 1:09:45 Making something that outlives us 1:14:14 Magma grip, not elephant print 1:20:50 The Lost Lake Easter egg 1:26:00 Sneakers made us better storytellers 1:33:02 Where to find Rick FIND RICK Rick's work: https://www.rickmaderis.com Burnside Knives: https://burnsideknives.com Instagram: @maderis and @burnsideknives His eyewear side project, IIVNI: https://iivni.com MORE FROM ME Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NickatSneakerHistory The Sneaker Newsletter: https://www.thesneakernewsletter.com Sneaker History: https://sneakerhistory.com My first book, Small Luxuries: Sneakers, out October 2026: https://bookshop.org/a/122044/9798317900854 Rick sent me the Burnside knife we talk about in this episode. Full video coming soon on the YouTube channel. Tell someone you like their kicks today. You never know how far a compliment will take you. And we all know how good it feels to be on the receiving end of some appreciation. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/