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Brand Apparrel Design | Brand Collateral
Nike / Converse All-Star Design Team
An All-Star Design Experince
I was selected to participate in the Converse All-Star Design Team, an eight-month apprenticeship program. Out of thousands of applicants across the East Coast, only four designers were chosen—each representing a different discipline: Graphic Design & Illustration (my role), Textile & Color, Apparel, and Footwear Design.
During my time at Converse, I worked as a Junior Graphic Designer on men’s and women’s apparel, collaborating closely with the Senior Graphic Design Lead and the Converse Creative Director.
I contributed to seasonal design initiatives, participated in cross-team critiques, and gained exposure to executive-level creative culture through meetings and lunches at Converse and Nike headquarters. Several projects I worked on were released globally in Spring 2024 and featured on Converse’s website.
The Project
To meet Converse’s brand standards, I conducted in-depth research on existing merchandise, participated in collaborative mind-mapping and ideation sessions, and refined my Adobe Illustrator workflow to align with Converse’s established visual systems. I applied trend forecasting, cultural research, and audience insights to ensure designs resonated at regional, national, and global levels. Working within a large, multidisciplinary team, I helped develop concepts that balanced innovation with brand consistency, contributing to the design of Converse sneakers from the ground up.
Outcome & Impact
This experience strengthened both my creative and technical skill sets while giving me a comprehensive understanding of the full product development lifecycle at a global brand. I gained hands-on experience with production specifications, cross-functional collaboration, and audience-driven design strategy, and saw my work move from concept to public release. The program solidified my ability to execute high-level branding and design projects at scale, within a fast-paced, global creative environment.
Client
Nike/Converse
Year
2022-2023
Scope
Men's and Women’s Apparel graphic designer for Spring and Fall Collection.
Released worldwide summer of ‘24
Software
Illustrator
Photoshop
Procreate
Apparel — Released Worldwide
How to Make Converse Lemonade
As part of the Nike/Converse creative team, I designed a series of story-driven graphic tees inspired by themes of summer nostalgia and food culture, aligned with projected seasonal trends and consumer interests. Each design balanced playful visual storytelling with Converse’s bold, expressive brand language.
A key challenge was adapting my personal illustration style to fit within Converse’s established design systems, while creating high-impact visuals using a limited color palette. Through thoughtful simplification and strategic color use, I developed illustrations that felt fresh, on-brand, and scalable for global production.
Apparel-Handmade Shoes
My Honorary Degree from The Converse Sneaker School
This is a one-of-a-kind pair of Converse shoes that I made entirely from scratch. I handpicked the fabric and laces, sewed the shape, embroidered the logo, and even punched the shoelace holes myself. Along the way, I learned firsthand the challenges of shoemaking — I accidentally burned a hole in the fabric and glued the sole incorrectly — but the experience gave me a deep appreciation for the craftsmanship behind every pair of Converse Chucks.
This week-long project allowed me to fully understand Converse’s history and production process, giving me unique insight into the meticulous work and attention to detail required to create a single pair of shoes.
The Rough Drafts/Ideations/Learnings & Insights
A lot of ideas didn’t make the final cut, which taught me the importance of evaluating projects from a global and cultural perspective, rather than just my personal viewpoint. For example, subtle design elements, like chopstick placement, may not matter in the U.S. but could be interpreted differently in Asian markets. This reinforced the concept of conscious design, especially when working with a global brand like Converse.
Through this process, I also learned the value of letting designs breathe — stepping back, detaching from early concepts, and adapting to evolving project needs. These lessons strengthened my ability to iterate thoughtfully, consider audience impact, and align creative work with a worldwide brand vision.
