Rick Maderis
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ABOUT & CONTACT

Multi-Disciplinary Designer currently working full-time in Footwear. Senior Color Designer: Under Armour Basketball + Curry Brand

I help craft and amplify Product, Merchandising and Marketing initiatives with Color, Story and Graphics. I've worked in various design roles for 10+ years and founded a company that designs pocket knives and eating tools.

In Footwear, Sportswear and Accessories, I’ve enjoyed helping to build head-to-toe collections, Special Projects, Quickstrikes and charitable works including but limited to Make-A-Wish, Doernbecher, ASPCA, The Purple Hearts Foundation and Keep-A-Breast Foundation.

With large bodies of creative for Adidas, Nike, Jordan Brand, Under Armor and Curry Brand; The Pacific Northwest is where call home. When people ask what do I actually do I tell them this: UA Basketball Footwear Color for Men’s, Women’s & Youth Inline • Curry Brand Footwear Color for Men’s & Youth • Player Editions for Stephen Curry • Player Editions for De’Aaron Fox • Curry Brand Golf Footwear Color • VLP’s • Technical Color Packages • Technical graphic packages • Color Separations + Design Lead for Curry Brand x Bruce Lee Foundation and Tuff Crowd 2023.

All of this work required(s) #teamwork

This level of Product & Design requires the sweet balance between high-level complex problem solving, strong and effective communication, being a customer and believing in your teammates, discipline, staying organized and having fun too.

At Under Armour, I lead color design for UA Basketball and Curry Brand footwear across Men’s, Women’s, and Youth lines—including inline and Player Editions for Stephen Curry, De’Aaron Fox, and golf footwear. I manage VLPs, technical color and graphic packages, color separations, and was the design lead on the Curry Brand x Bruce Lee Foundation collaboration. You can see my work on Stephen Curry’s 12 Olympics shoe, the Pangu Asia Tour, Curry 12 “Year of the Snake,” and the All-Star 2025 “What The Bay” edition.

Previous:

As an ETW Product Designer at NIKEiD, I helped create the KD9 Olympics, LeBron 13 “25K Point Club” (remember when he ripped his jersey—that shoe), Dolomite, Lake Erie, Kyrie 2 “Father’s Day,” and Kobe 11 “Mamba Day.” It all started with LeBron 12 “Unlocked” and evolved into working on Air Max 1 HTM for NIKEiD.

Later, at Jordan Brand, I transitioned from headwear to apparel tech packs, where I helped develop the Air Jordan 1 Vogue collection, briefed by Gemo Wong. After becoming a full-time employee, I worked on retro editions for the AJ1, 3, 4, 6, and 8, and created graphics for the AJ34, 35, and 36. A stretch assignment led me to Nike Running, where I designed the logo and graphics for the Alphafly 3.

During the pandemic, I doubled down—building Burnside Knives and freelancing with Roundhouse, a marketing agency in Portland. There, I contributed to the Adidas Dame 9 campaign before joining Under Armour as a Senior Color Designer.

All of this work requires one thing above all: teamwork.

This level of product and design demands a fine balance—complex problem solving, effective communication, discipline, trust in your teammates, staying organized, and making room for fun.

Before all this:

I rolled up my sleeves. I made sandwiches, served drinks, opened early shifts at CCS Mailorder, cut lenses at an optical shop, worked at Ace Hardware, folded denim, and locked up at a motocross shop with the books in hand. My family was always there, just like they said they would be. But I didn’t lean on that—I had something to build. And I still do.

With art and design, I’m still trying to figure out how to make it all faster, louder, and more meaningful.

Thanks for stopping by, I have an ever evolving playlist below; Enjoy :)

Rick Maderis

Located in Portland, Oregon.

Sneakers & Knives +

rickmaderis@gmail.com info@burnsideknives.com

503-780-4340