Skateboarding and design have always been in Michael Leon's blood. Michael designed his first pro model deck for New Deal while in high school. The CalArts graduate continued to pursue his love for skate and design contributing graphics and art direction to some of the industry prominent players including Fourstar Clothing, Element Skateboards, Girl Skateboards, Stussy, DC, Arkitip and Nike SB. Michael is also responsible for co-founding Commonwealth Stacks and Rasa Libre Skateboards. If you think that is an impressive resume he also founded Michael Leon Studio as an outlet for personal works which he balances when he not handling his full time gig as the Design Director of Nike SB in Portland, Oregon.
Michael has been with Nike for four years - initially helping develop Nike's Tech Pack which eventually morphed into Nike Sportswear (NSW). While NSW was evolving Michael took a change of scenery working on packaging and titles for 'Nothing But The Truth'. As a result he made the transition from NSW and joined the Nike Skateboarding Division which continues to evolve, solidifying Nike as one of the key players in the skateboarding industry.
5 things I don’t leave home without are…
Phone
Keys
Cigarettes
Money
Passport
The best kept secret of Portland is...
If there is one, let me know
When I am away from the office you can usually find me…
On a motorcycle
If I wasn't designing or skating I would be…
Surfing
My favorite book is...
The Brand Gap (Marty Neumeier)
My favorite spot to hang out on the Nike Campus is…
The smoking area
An artist that inspires me is...
Gabriel Orozco
My favorite pro skater is...
Julien Stranger
The most underrated skater in my opinion is...
Matt Beach
What best thing about working at Nike is...
Air miles
The first thought that came to my head when Eric Koston joined Nike SB was ...
Can’t wait to work on something together
My favorite skateboard graphic is...
Girl Rick Howard ‘Graphic Loading...’
The best words of advice I ever received were...
Phone
Keys
Cigarettes
Money
Passport
The best kept secret of Portland is...
If there is one, let me know
When I am away from the office you can usually find me…
On a motorcycle
If I wasn't designing or skating I would be…
Surfing
My favorite book is...
The Brand Gap (Marty Neumeier)
My favorite spot to hang out on the Nike Campus is…
The smoking area
An artist that inspires me is...
Gabriel Orozco
My favorite pro skater is...
Julien Stranger
The most underrated skater in my opinion is...
Matt Beach
What best thing about working at Nike is...
Air miles
The first thought that came to my head when Eric Koston joined Nike SB was ...
Can’t wait to work on something together
My favorite skateboard graphic is...
Girl Rick Howard ‘Graphic Loading...’
The best words of advice I ever received were...
Do one thing and be the best at it.
While those words of advice sink in and resonate check out Michael's Monday Morning Playlist.
1. Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself - Morrissey
2. Coming In From The Cold – The Delgados
3. Inside Looking Out – The Animals
4. The Four Horsemen – Aphrodite’s Child
5. Traveling Tragition – Tyrannosaurus Rex
6. California Saga (The Beaks of Eagles) - Beach Boys
7. I Hope I Know You – The Clientele
8. Accidents Will Happen – Elvis Costello
9. That’s Entertainment - The Jam
10. RU Lonely – Graham Coxon
11. Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
12. Zombies – Care of Cell 44
13. Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
2. Coming In From The Cold – The Delgados
3. Inside Looking Out – The Animals
4. The Four Horsemen – Aphrodite’s Child
5. Traveling Tragition – Tyrannosaurus Rex
6. California Saga (The Beaks of Eagles) - Beach Boys
7. I Hope I Know You – The Clientele
8. Accidents Will Happen – Elvis Costello
9. That’s Entertainment - The Jam
10. RU Lonely – Graham Coxon
11. Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
12. Zombies – Care of Cell 44
13. Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
14. The End Of The World - Skeeter Davis
You can download the playlist here.
(photo via Michael Leon)