30-Dec-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant
Category : Nike, Project Bluefoot
Tags: Air Jordan, Air Jordan 2010, Alphaproject, Austin Jermacans, D'Wayne Edwards, Daniel Gold, Dee Wells, Denis Dekovic, Erik Arlen, Ethan Dean, Jason Mayden, Jason Petrie, Jordan Brand, Justin Taylor, Marc Dolce, Mark Miner, Massachusetts, Matt DeAlmeida, Michael Jordan, Nike, Nike ACG Zoom Tallac, Nike Ashiko, Nike Future Sole, Obsessive Sneaker Disorder, OSD, Peter Fogg, Portland, Project Bluefoot, Sean Williams, Zenith Chance

Our footwear design partner site Project Bluefoot has invited the 2009 Nike Future Sole Finalists to each share their first-hand account on what it was like making the trip up to Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR for the annual Nike-sponsored footwear design competition for high school students run by D’Wayne Edwards, Design Director at Jordan Brand. The latest Finalist to tell their story is Matt DeAlmeida from Arlington, MA. Continue reading for DeAlmeida’s complete Future Sole recap as originally posted on Project Bluefoot, including exclusive concept sketches of his winning leaf-inspired Nike design.
23-Dec-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant

Jordan Brand has created a new mini-site for Chris Paul’s latest signature shoe calling out all of the “discovery elements” built into the Jason Mayden-designed shoe. Inspired in part by hornets, the Jordan CP3.III features hornet stinger-like lace locks and lace tips, a honeycomb herringbone pattern outsole, and other hexagonal motif details which you can find on Jumpman23.com/CP3. Continue reading for a brief look at other screen captures from the new CP3 mini site.
15-Dec-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant
Category : Nike, Project Bluefoot
Tags: Cafe 19, D'Wayne Edwards, Denis Dekovic, Ethan Dean, Future Sole, Jason Mayden, Jordan Brand, Nike, Nike Future Sole, Portland, Project Bluefoot

Our partner site Project Bluefoot has invited the 2009 Nike Future Sole Finalists to each share their first-hand account on what it was like making the trip up to Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR for the annual Nike-sponsored footwear design competition run by D’Wayne Edwards, Design Director at Jordan Brand. The latest Finalist to tell their story is Ethan Dean from Rochester, MI. Continue reading for Dean’s complete Future Sole recap as originally posted on Project Bluefoot, including exclusive concept sketches and renderings of his re-worked Nike Hyperflight design.
30-Oct-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant

The latest edition in the Chris Paul signature shoe series has arrived. The Jason Mayden designed sneaker features a hexagonal motif, especially noticeable on the outsole with a cluster of herringbone-traction patterned polygons running throughout underfoot. Also seen is the “CP3″ logo inside a hexagon on the tongue. Look for more information on the Jordan CP3.III soon. Continue reading for more photos.
29-Oct-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant
Category : Air Jordan, Jordan Brand
Tags: Air Jordan, Ben Adams-Keane, D'Wayne Edwards, Frederic Roy, Jason Mayden, John Lee, Project Bluefoot, Titus Ares, Tom Matic, Yurri Mial

[As originally posted on Counter Kicks' footwear design division: Project Bluefoot.com] The Project Bluefoot x Air Jordan Design Competition is now complete. Our 2 guest judges – Jason Mayden, Senior Designer at Jordan Brand and D’Wayne Edwards, Design Director at Jordan Brand – graciously lent us their design eyes and ears over the past few months to review and critique our debut Project Bluefoot Footwear Design Competition highlighting an Air Jordan theme challenge. A mass came to play. Many challenged. One won. To get the official inside scoop on the finalist concepts and our Air Jordan winner, we now turn over the transmission to Jason Mayden and D’Wayne Edwards who have provided a detailed feedback review of each challenger and selected our ultimate Project Bluefoot Air Jordan Design winner: Tom Matic. Continue reading for the full review…
21-Oct-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant

COUNTERKICKS EXCLUSIVE: In the past couple weeks, we presented you with exclusive photos of an Air Jordan XX1 Prototype in “Italian Red Suede” and “Black Suede Bulls” colorways. Today, we exhibit a new Air Jordan XX1 Prototype in a “Black Leather Carolina” colorway featuring a rich, full-grain black leather upper with black suede cloaking the heel, along with coats of carolina blue trim accenting the forefoot support wraps, laces, and I.P.S. pods.
Code-named the “JORDAN ELEV8” to cloud the identity of the shoe, the XX1’s also went by another name internally: the Air Jordan “Venti Uno” which translates from Italian to “Twenty One“, signaling some initial European design inspirations. As with the previous “Black Suede Bulls” pair, this model features no marking imprints in the rubber outsole stretching across the arch, nor the embossed “Jumpman” logo on the plastic-silver capped lace aglets as the production version features. A final comparison change is the raised suede Jumpman logo seen on the back tongue, where on the released version the words “AUTHENTIC“, “UNCOMPROMISED“, “EARNED“, and “ASPIRATIONAL” – the 4 pillars of the “Jordan Code” – are instead stitched in.
Look for an in-depth tech story on these Prototype Air Jordan XX1’s coming soon to Counter Kicks. Follow us on Twitter for instant sneaker news. And continue reading to view 33 detailed photos of the Air Jordan XXI – “Black Leather Carolina” Prototypes.
06-Oct-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant

The Top 5 Project Bluefoot: Air Jordan Design Competition Finalists are…
03-Oct-2009
Posted by : John Brilliant

Exclusive to Counter Kicks, we are posting the original high-resolution sketches of Chris Paul’s Jordan CP3.II shoe, designed by Jason Mayden, Senior Footwear Designer at Jordan Brand. The images were originally seen in the “Design Theory with Jason Mayden” interview, posted on our partner publication, Project Bluefoot. Continue reading to view the high-res images…