GEMS, GoodThin.gs with Jason Mayden

Caught up with Jason Mayden to talk about his design philosophies, entrepreneurship, the skills he’s developed over time, and where he sees the future potential for creatives. Before graduating from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit,MI, Mayden relentlessly pursued an opportunity to work at Nike, ultimately becoming the first African-American to become a design intern at Nike’s Beaverton, OR, headquarters. While working at Nike for 13 years, Mayden designed iconic footwear for athletes like Michael Jordan, working as both Jordan Brand’s Senior Global Design Director and Director of Innovation for Nike's Digital Sport division. To add to his list of accomplishments during those Nike years, Mayden also pursued a masters degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business at the same time. After Nike, he became the Vice President of Design at Mark One before co-founding Super Heroic, whose mission is to enrich and empower the lives of children and their parents through play. Mayden is a fellow and media designer at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (also known as the d.School), a frequent lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, a regular columnist and blogger for Hypebeast Magazine and hypebeast.com and an advisory board member to his undergraduate alma mater, the College for Creative Studies.