How did you get into illustration?

Early on in my childhood, my mother always encouraged creativity. She picked that up out of us, my sister and me, and invited us to do crafts all the time. We always had some exciting trinket coming in the mail that we could play with and explore.

Yet, I also was really into science and math. I was really good at math classes. And I learned not all artists have both the left and the right brain. Eventually, I made the decision that art felt like the most beautiful thing a human could achieve. I had drawing and painting classes in school, and teachers wanted me to focus on their departments. So I thought, “Maybe I’ll find a middle ground of illustration.” And I also got into print-making and bookarts.

How did learning how to make a book change the way in which you view and collect books?

There’s a greater appreciation for every detail of a book, like the way it’s bound, the way the paper feels, the way it smells, the way it opens and lays. The margins, the endpapers—there is so much detail to every choice, and a book that does all of it really well really shines and speaks in a beautiful way.

“I love repetition
and stacks of
things. It satisfies
a certain masterful accomplishment.” “I love repetition
and stacks of
things. It satisfies
a certain masterful accomplishment.”
How did you get into interactive design and experience design?

It’s all communication and usability and connection with the person that’s holding the object. Like holding a book—there’s an experience there. Or tapping a button, there’s an experience there as well. And how can a digital interface connect with our physical experiences in the way that we use things.

I feel very much like a multidisciplinary creative-artist-maker—I don't know—sometimes I don’t put a label on it. I don’t know which label to take as my own.

I’m very goal driven. There’s an end result that I’m going toward, and I think doing it to the best of its ability in the medium that suits it is what I strive for. And I think that’s how I can flex between different spaces.

What is the world of Nike for you? You work on the SNKRS App team. Do you consider yourself a sneakerhead, and how do you think about designing for that world?

I do not consider myself a sneakerhead, and didn’t when I got the job. What attracted me about Nike is the legacy of design and the brand. The loyalty and depth of the brand is something that I was really excited to be a part of.

And having worked for Nike for seven years, I have a collection of shoes, and I see the art in the shoes in a way that I didn’t before working there. And I feel it has opened my eyes to a whole world that I was blind to, and I’m grateful for having the opportunity to really get to know that world in-depth.

How do you think about the culture and consumption of Nike as you design for it?

The SNKRS App is an interesting space because the shoes that we feature are pretty popular, and they’re already the shoes that have a lot of eyes and attention on them. We’ve entered a post-hype world, so things don’t sell out as often as they used to, but there is almost an expectation that if a shoe has had the correct marketing and has the right reach, it almost speaks for itself and it’s going to sell.

This actually creates really interesting digital marketplace and commerce possibilities. When I first started, my director at the time told me most commerce experiences want to reduce friction, so that you purchase the product and you won’t back out at any time because they want you to funnel through and complete the transaction. But on the SNKRS App we actually want to add fun friction, an interesting friction, an experiential friction. So that people indicate their desire and have an incredible Nike-only experience when they’re trying to get that pair they’re desiring so much.

So it’s interesting connecting the physical and digital and becoming a portal to a physical object, and a physically emotional experience, in trying to get that object, and trying to collect it and hunt for it.